Frozen in Time
by Icybeach
Summary: Speechless and with a cold chill down his spine, Severus Snape watches the new Ancient Runes teacher enter the first staff meeting of the year. What goes through the quiet mind of the former Death Eater as he is confronted by the person who inevitably br
1. Snape's Boggart

**Author's notes:** I want to thank my readers for leaving constructive criticism. They've helped me with ideas for this rewritten and revised version of my fic. The chapters fit canon now and have been changed to account for that. Please either try to forget that they were ever in Runes, or read the chapters again ;) 

**Beta-reader appreciation:** I would like to thank my wonderful and brilliant beta-reader, Splatt, for being so patient and basically teaching me how to write properly. I'd also like to thank Miss K and Carissa for beta reading and help. Thanks to Cindy Eric of designerpotions.com, for allowing me the use of her theories and character sheet. Thanks to Birgit and Spartina for coming up with ideas for this new version of the story

---  
  
**Chapter 1 - Snape's Boggart**  
  
_September 1st 1993. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry.  
_  
"What are we going to do about Black?" Professor McGonagall, the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts, asked Professor Dumbledore as they made their way to the staff meeting that was to be held in the Great Hall.  
  
"What do you mean, Minerva?" Albus Dumbledore, the long-serving headmaster of Hogwarts, replied while looking at his pocket watch.  
  
"Well, you heard what the Minister said," she commented, "Sirius Black will try to _kill_ Harry. How are we going to prevent him from entering Hogwarts?"  
  
"Ah, we will discuss that at the meeting," Dumbledore said, stopping by the entrance as if waiting for someone. He checked his watch again, sighed and put it back inside his robes.  
  
All of the teachers were gathered, sitting around a long table in the middle of the Hall. Madam Hooch was reading the sports section of the _Daily Prophet_; Professor Flitwick was laughing at a joke told by Professor Sprout; and Professor Snape, who was wearing his usual black robes, was absentmindedly scribbling down notes.  
  
"Good, everyone is here," said Dumbledore, clapping his hands together and smiling. The teachers looked at him and straightened up.  
  
"Everyone?" said Professor McGonagall, walking to an empty seat. "What about the new Defence Against the Dark Arts and Ancient Runes teachers? You have found a replacement for Professors Lockhart and Wales, haven't you?"  
  
"Yes I have, we have to start the meeting without them," Dumbledore said resignedly, with a final worried glance towards the door. "One will be arriving on the Hogwarts Express after three hours, and I'm certain that the other..." he turned his head back to the teachers, "..._she_ will be here shortly."  
  
"By 'she' I assume you mean the Runes teacher?" Professor Flitwick, the tiny Charms teacher, asked curiously after adjusting one of the many cushions he was sitting on.  
  
"Yes, but we will begin by discussing the securities of the castle," Dumbledore paused slightly, "I have spoken to Cornelius Fudge and he has insisted on placing dementors in the school grounds." The teachers shuddered and there was a low murmur. "The minister is very insistent and I'm afraid I can not deny him this. They will be arriving within the hour," Dumbledore went on.  
  
"Do you think it's safe to have them walk amongst the students, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked and the other teachers nodded in consent.  
  
"The dementors will not be walking freely in the school grounds. They will be placed at the gates and around Hogsmeade," said Dumbledore and placed his fingertips on the table. "We will be tightening the security inside and outside the castle ourselves. I have drafted a timetable for patrolling the corridors at night," he said as he handed a piece of parchment to Professor McGonagall.  
  
After the timetable had been passed around and some suggestions had been made, Dumbledore raised his hand for silence. "The timetable will be adjusted further after our three new teachers have been added to it.  
  
You all know Hagrid," he smiled at Hagrid, who blushed and cast his eyes down at his hands. "He'll be teaching Care of Magical Creatures this year."  
  
Dumbledore took a moment before continuing, "Our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is Remus Lupin. Many of you should remember him – he finished his education at Hogwarts fifteen years ago." Professor Snape's lip curled with disapproval but he said nothing. Dumbledore looked from one teacher to another and took a deep breath. "I have found a replacement for Professor Wales, our old Ancient Runes Master. Some of you already know her, as she also finished her education fifteen years ago..." he paused again and sighed.  
  
"Well?" Professor McGonagall asked curiously and furrowed her brow, "Who is it?"  
  
Dumbledore looked at the door once more before turning to face the teachers. He took another deep breath, "Her name is -"  
  
With a loud bang, the door flew open with a cold breeze. The teachers jumped in their seats, chills running down their spines; they all turned around, startled. Framed in the doorway stood a short, slender woman dressed in a long, dark-grey Muggle winter coat with light-grey fur around the neckline and sleeves. Her long, dark, wavy hair surrounded her face as she subtly swept her eyes over the room. She said nothing, but walked slowly towards Dumbledore with a straight back, holding her head up high.  
  
Dumbledore had turned towards her. "Ah, good, you're here," he said with a relieved smile and motioned his hand towards the other teachers. "Everyone, this is Isolde Montage."  
  
There was dead silence in the Hall. Some teachers looked thunderstruck, others simply curious. "Is it snowing outside? In September?" asked Professor Flitwick as he looked at the big snowflakes on Isolde's coat.  
  
"It isn't snowing," whispered Madam Hooch while squinting up at the ceiling.  
  
Professor Flitwick looked back at Isolde and finally seemed to realize who she was. "But...Miss Montage? That's quite impossible!"  
  
Isolde didn't look at Professor Flitwick, she was still focusing on Dumbledore, who shortly began introducing each teacher and as he did so she looked at each of them with a vacant expression. "...Sibyll Trelawney teaches Divination... you know Minerva McGonagall of course; she's still our Transfiguration teacher. ...You also know Severus Snape, our Potions master..." She looked from Professor McGonagall to Snape and her grey eyes grew cold with fury as she met his eyes.  
  
"Isolde, welcome..." said Professor McGonagall after recovering from her shock.  
  
Snape seemed to be lost for words as he returned her stare, but broke eye contact after a while and looked back at his notes.  
  
Isolde sat down in an empty seat and slowly took out some parchment and a quill. She took notes as the meeting progressed, occasionally looking up at Dumbledore – ignoring everyone else.  
  
---  
  
Just before the start-of-term feast the teachers met in the room beside the Great Hall. It was dark outside and the fireplace had been lit, filling the room with warmth and a faint glow. The portraits were dully moving around in their frames that hung on the dark stonewalls.  
  
Snape, who had kept quiet during the meeting, was sitting in the corner, eyeing Remus Lupin with great dislike. It bothered him to great lengths that Dumbledore hadn't informed the other teachers about Lupin's lycanthropy. McGonagall knew, of course. She had been the Head of Gryffindor House when Lupin was a Hogwarts student, but Snape felt the others should know as well. After all, it was common knowledge that werewolves could not be trusted. Of course Dumbledore felt otherwise and was convinced that Lupin was harmless. Well, he most certainly was not harmless without Snape's expertise and precision!  
  
_ "Severus," Dumbledore said one morning after lunch. "I have  
appointed the Defence Against the Dark Arts position to Remus Lupin  
for the next school year. You remember his condition, do you not?"  
he asked as they walked over the grounds under the burning sun.  
  
Dumbledore had summoned Snape to Hogwarts in July to discuss an  
important matter – and this was it, Lupin. Quite an important  
matter indeed!  
  
"Yes Headmaster, I do," Snape answered calmly, through his clenched  
teeth. He wasn't happy about this at all. Lupin had been a danger  
to a Hogwarts student before years ago, and he would be again. "Do  
you think it wise to have a werewolf teach at Hogwarts?"  
  
"I believe it will be safe with your help..." Dumbledore said and  
lifted his purple robes slightly to step over a fallen twig. "I  
need to ask you to prepare Wolfsbane Potion for Remus, so that he  
can keep his mind when he transforms. That way he will be of no harm  
to the students, or the staff."  
  
They stopped by the lake and the giant squid poked one of its  
tentacles out of the water before quickly drawing it back down under  
the surface, as if it had suddenly decided that it didn't like the  
burning globe in the sky. Snape was thinking about what Dumbledore  
was requesting of him, and slowly turned his eyes away from the lake  
and met his eyes. Dumbledore looked like he knew what Snape was  
thinking as he looked over his half-moon spectacles. He must have  
known how difficult this would be for Snape – a whole school year  
with one of his sworn enemies.  
  
Snape wanted to protest, but knew from experience that it was  
futile. "If that is what you wish me to do, then I'll do it,  
Headmaster," he said calmly, moving under the shadow of a tree.  
"But I really -"  
_  
Snape abandoned his thoughts abruptly at the sight of Dumbledore entering the room. He stood up swiftly from his seat and quickly swept towards him. "Headmaster, why wasn't I informed?" he asked sharply, "When -"  
  
"Severus, I really can't discuss this now," Dumbledore interrupted him determinedly, "_It wasn't my place to inform_. But I ask that you be patient and passive until the time is right."  
  
"Yes, Headmaster," Snape said coolly before glancing towards the person who had just then walked through the door. Isolde glared at him icily as she brushed past him and stopped at the sight of Lupin, whose jaws had dropped.  
  
Lupin slowly folded the _Daily Prophet_ he had been reading and got up from his seat. "Izzy...?" he said with disbelief and frowned in surprise.  
  
"Remus," she replied shortly, turned to Dumbledore and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted.  
  
"Izzy," Lupin laughed and pulled her into a tight hug, "I don't believe this!"  
  
Isolde was stiff as a board in his arms and pushed him away with force. "Don't ever do that again!" she hissed coldly and glared at him. Snape's lip curled slightly into a subtle sneer at the surprised look on Lupin's face – a look that Isolde seemed to be ignoring as she straightened her black robes before turning to Dumbledore and speaking directly to him. "I've set up a meeting with our _friends_," she said, mysteriously emphasising the last word.  
  
She quickly glanced at Snape while Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully and looked from Isolde, to Lupin, to Snape and then back at Isolde. He did this several times before turning away and raising his voice so that all teachers could hear him. "All right everyone, please enter the Great Hall, the students are about to arrive."  
  
Before walking into the Hall he took a long, calculating look at Snape, who returned it with utter calmness.  
  
---  
  
Neville ran after his fellow Gryffindor students to keep up. They had just finished breakfast and were now on their way to Herbology, and Neville was looking forward to the first lesson in his favourite subject. It was, after all, the only subject he could pride himself in being good at.  
  
"I'm very excited about learning Ancient Runes," he heard Hermione say as she made her way down the path towards the greenhouses with Harry and Ron, only a few feet in front of Neville. "I've read a lot about it and it's used in many ways, usually in very old magic. Professor Montage seems nice," she said and checked her bag as if to make sure she had all of her books.  
  
Neville's grandmother had insisted that he take Ancient Runes, because his father had been very good in that subject, but Neville had disobeyed her for once. He had chosen the subjects his friends had chosen; Divination and Care of Magical Creatures. He wasn't so sure that he'd made the right choices though... Professor Trelawney was very odd and Hagrid had introduced a hippogriff that attacked Malfoy... Of course it had been Malfoy's fault, but nonetheless... But Ancient Runes? That was supposed to be a very difficult subject...  
  
"Nice? She looks strange," said Ron who was adjusting the strap on his school bag and sweeping his flaming red hair away from his forehead as he walked. "Well, you've seen her at the staff table - she looks...just weird. Did you see how she glared at Snape this morning?" Ron continued, facing Hermione as they stopped outside the greenhouse. He dropped his bag by his side and leaned up against the wall. His face suddenly lit up and he chuckled. "I think Snape may have met his match this year. Fred and George are taking Runes and they say that she's like a female version of him."  
  
Neville was about to stop by the three friends but almost tripped on a small rock that was sticking out of the ground. He dropped all of his school things; quill, books and an inkbottle, all hitting the ground with a thud. Somehow, and for some reason, the mentioning of his least favourite professor always made him nervous. He wasn't exactly sure _why_ he was so scared of Snape...  
  
Harry immediately bent down to help Neville gather his things. Hermione picked up Neville's quill that had rolled towards her, and handed it to him as he straightened up.  
  
"Well, _I_'m not going to take Fred and George's word for that. I'm going to decide for myself this afternoon," she answered in a dignified voice and turned back to Ron. "_I_ can't wait to see what she's like."  
  
"Well, it's quite understandable if she doesn't like Snape, I mean who does?" said Ron, pulling a face and letting himself slowly slide down along the wall until he was sitting on the ground. "Anyway, I can't wait for the Defence lesson tomorrow. Fred and George keep going on about Professor Lupin," he said as he tore up some grass and tossed it away.  
  
There was still some time until Professor Sprout would let them inside the greenhouse, so Neville, Hermione and Harry sat down in a circle and started talking about all of the things they'd heard about the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.  
  
---  
  
Isolde hurried out into the grounds and walked towards the greenhouses. She was in desperate need for knotgrass and hoped that Professor Sprout would have some. She was certain that there would be a stock in the Potions classroom, but under the circumstances, she preferred to avoid that dungeon by all means.  
  
Dumbledore had assured her that the school would provide all potions ingredients she might possibly need, before she accepted the position of the Ancient Runes teacher. She had once before run out of potions ingredients and the result had been devastating! She was very reluctant to cut down her daily doses of the Claresco Potion, even though she had been advised by Dumbledore to do so.  
  
She hastened her steps and burst through the greenhouse door where Professor Sprout was teaching young students. She strode up to Professor Sprout, ignoring the curious looks she got.  
  
"I need knotgrass," she stated curtly and tried to take deep, controlled breaths after her walk.  
  
Professor Sprout widened her eyes and pointed towards the students. "I'm teaching right now, my dear, can't this wait?"  
  
"I really... I need it. Now," Isolde insisted although she tried her very best to sound calm and expressionless, but she was already starting to feel a little light-headed. "Please," she added persistently.  
  
"Very well," Professor Sprout said and put down what looked like one of those modern Self-Snapping Clippers. Professor Sprout buried herself in the shelves and Isolde tried not to look at the students behind her. The silence in the uncomfortably warm greenhouse told her that everyone was watching. From the corner of her eye she saw a red-haired boy elbow a girl with bushy brown hair, and jerk his head in Isolde's direction. The girl rolled her eyes and shook her head, but glanced appraisingly at Isolde after a while.  
  
"Here it is," said Professor Sprout with a smile and produced a jar full of fresh knotgrass. She looked at her pocket watch and then at the students. "Class dismissed."  
  
"Thank you," Isolde said quickly and turned to leave the greenhouse but stopped abruptly, placing her hand on a table for support. She stared at what had to be hallucination... which was rather strange, because the hallucinations hadn't come so early last time...  
  
She stared down at a thin-faced, black haired boy, who was returning her stare and giving her a nervous smile.  
  
"You're..." she started but successfully prevented herself from continuing with the '_supposed to be dead, James_,' when she saw his green eyes. She straightened up and pulled herself together. "You must be Harry Potter," she said and continued peering into his eyes. She had been told about his accomplishment as a baby and assumed he was used to people staring at him.  
  
"Yes, I am," he said and fumbled with a leaf of a plant, placed on a table that stood between them.  
  
She quickly broke the eye contact and walked out. How foolish of her to think that she was hallucinating! Dumbledore had told her that Harry Potter was attending Hogwarts.  
  
---  
  
Isolde hurried to her office and added the knotgrass to the already boiling potion. She stirred for a minute and watched the colour change to a bright yellow one. Feeling very relieved, she measured her dose and drank it in one draught, washing the dreadful taste down with water.  
  
She heard her third year class enter the classroom, which was located next to the office. There were only twenty students in the third year that had signed up for Ancient Runes, so she would be teaching a class of mixed Houses. It was similar with the other years - only one or two classes for each.  
  
Isolde sat down in her chair and relaxed for a bit, feeling the effects of the potion spreading throughout her body. She looked forward to the day she would be free of the potion, but that day seemed to be too far away.  
  
After a minute she gathered her notes and straightened up before walking into the classroom. She scanned the room swiftly after sitting down at her desk; it was a plain room, with bare walls, empty shelves and only the necessities: desks, chairs and a blackboard. She studied the students, who were all watching her intently, before looking down at the name list. As she read the names out loud she eyed each student briefly before reading the next name, trying to remember their faces.  
  
That bushy haired girl was in this class, sitting in the front row. She answered by the name 'Granger, Hermione'.  
  
"Malfoy, Draco..." She looked at Malfoy, a little longer than she'd looked at the others. His white-blond hair seemed to emphasize his paleness and his arm appeared to be bandaged – she assumed as a result of the incident in his first Care of Magical Creature's lesson – Professor Trelawney, who had heard it from Professor Sprout, had very excitedly explained to her what had happened. He didn't appear to quite know what to do and just looked back with determination on his face.  
  
"As you already know, I will be teaching you Ancient Runes this year," she said after reading out the rest of the names. "We will begin by opening our _Ancient Runes of the North_ books to page 11..." she paused and turned to face Malfoy, who had been whispering and sniggering amongst the people that sat closest to him.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy, is there something amusing you'd like to share with the class?" she asked coolly. This _must _be the son of Lucius Malfoy. The resemblance was uncanny.  
  
"No. Nothing that concerns _you_," he said with a smirk, glaring defiantly at her.  
  
"It is 'No, _Professor_' to you and you'll talk to your friends after the lesson, or I'll be forced to deduct points from the Slytherin House. I'm sure your _Head of House_ wouldn't like that very much," she said harshly, standing firmly in her place by the blackboard. "Is that clear?" she added in a cold, steady voice, stressing every word.  
  
Malfoy didn't reply but his expression remained defiant.  
  
Isolde turned to the class again. "This year you'll be studying Nordic Runes and low level magic associated with them. Does anyone in here know the Futhark alphabet?"  
  
The girl, Granger, shot her hand excitedly into the air.  
  
"Yes, Miss Granger. Please write it on the blackboard and explain."  
  
---  
  
Snape walked into the staffroom seething. "That...Girl" he muttered savagely under his breath as he slammed the door shut behind him. How dare that insufferable know-it-all help Longbottom with his potion!? He had WARNED her not to help him. She had to be punished with more than a few points being deducted since it clearly had _no_ effect on her. How DARE she humiliate him like that in front of his students! And that Longbottom! He had never met a clumsier boy. If his head wasn't attached...  
  
"Is there a problem, Severus?" asked Professor McGonagall who was sitting at the table, reading the _Daily Prophet_. "You look rather upset."  
  
"_No_, no problem," Snape snapped before sitting down in a low armchair and staring at the floor. He hadn't noticed anyone when he walked into the room.  
  
He could see McGonagall observing him over her spectacles from the corner of his eye. "By the way," she said, "There's a note from Albus on the table. It's about the staffroom wardr –" She stopped as she was interrupted by Professor Flitwick, who just then stuck his nose through the staffroom door.  
  
"Oh, Minerva, good, you're here," he said in high pinched voice. "Oliver Wood was looking for you, it seemed important...something about the Gryffindor Quidditch robes being out of control after a charm gone wrong..."  
  
"Mr. Wood? Very well," she sighed, "Thank you, Filius," she said and left Snape to his thoughts.  
  
He barely noticed them leaving as he was still angrily regretting that he'd been to too lenient, taking only five points from Gryffindor. A sudden noise distracted his thoughts, however. He looked at the wardrobe at the end of the room, the doorknob of which was rattling violently. "Another student locked in that damn wardrobe!" he snarled to himself irritably as he stood up and wrenched the door open.  
  
He certainly wasn't prepared for what happened next. A woman fell out of the wardrobe and collapsed on the floor. She looked weak and as she turned her head slowly he could see blood running from her mouth. She looked tired, worn out and tears were running down her face into her tangled hair. She seemed to be waiting for something with fear in her eyes and then, from nowhere, he heard a male's voice call out "_Crucio!_"  
  
Snape took a step backwards, "...no..." he whispered with horror on his face.  
  
The woman on the floor started screaming with pain, her head thrown back and her body stiff. Then he saw a puddle of blood forming on the floor...  
  
Covering his ears, but not being able to tear his eyes away, Snape realized what this was. "_Riddikulus!_" he tried, but the boggart only crawled backwards, into the wardrobe, still in the form of the woman screaming. Snape took the opportunity and slammed the wardrobe door shut before taking a few steps backwards. Panting he placed his hand on the table and saw the small note from Dumbledore. The words on the note seemed blurry and he tried hard to focus on them.  
  
**Attention all staff:  
  
I have granted Professor Lupin permission to take care of the boggart that has moved into the staffroom wardrobe. Please do not dispose of it.  
  
_Albus Dumbledore_  
**  
The screaming had stopped. Snape sank back into the armchair, his hands covering his face. _It was only a boggart_, he thought to himself, but he couldn't get the image, nor the screaming out of his mind. He had tackled boggarts before, but this time it had been different. He associated it with the sleepless nights he'd had since the term started, thinking about the past. He leaned back and tried hard to empty his mind.  
  
A few minutes later the door opened and Lupin entered along with the third year Gryffindor students. Snape sneered at the sight of Neville. "Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this," he said before getting up and striding past the class. He turned on his heel in the doorway and said, "Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear."  
  
To his pleasure, Neville's face went scarlet and Harry glared at him resentfully.  
  
Professor Lupin raised his eyebrows and said, "I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation and I am sure he will perform it admirably."  
  
Snape glared at him and shut the door with a snap, setting off down the corridor at a rapid pace, keen to put distance between himself and the staffroom. At least the encounter with Lupin had managed to put the boggart out of his mind, and at the sight of Neville, he had managed to pick up the thread of his previous thoughts, which occupied his mind for the rest of the day.  
  
---  
  
Neville added 'powdered bicorn horn' onto his parchment. It was getting late, judging by the lack of daylight, and he still had one foot to go before his extra Potions report was done. It looked messy, written in misshaped letters, with ink specks here and there. He would have to spend extra time on re-writing it before handing it in... Professor Snape would never accept it the way it was now.  
  
He had found this empty classroom to study in since the library had been too crowded. Hermione had promised to help him, so they couldn't be in there anyway. Madam Pince always got so angry when he made the slightest noise.  
  
He heard the door open and close behind him.  
  
"I still have a foot to go, Hermione," he said and sighed. It must have taken him two hours to write the three feet he had finished. For some reason, Hermione hadn't moved away from the door and Neville turned around to see why. But when he had turned, he found himself face to face with the new Ancient Runes teacher, Professor Montage. She stood there in the shadow, wearing black robes, quietly looking at him with a calculative expression.  
  
Neville swallowed the suddenly large amount of salvia that had gathered in his mouth. He remembered what Ron had said about her...that she was like Professor Snape.  
  
She slowly walked towards him, around his desk and peered down at him. Neville did nothing but nervously look back at her, but after a while she examined the items lying on his table; quill, parchment and an inkbottle marked with his name.  
  
"Neville Longbottom, what are you doing in here?" she asked and Neville couldn't help feeling surprised. He had expected the cold, harsh tone she had spoken in, in the greenhouse, but her voice was calm, almost...curious...  
  
"I...I needed to do this extra Potions report for Professor Snape. I have to finish it for tomorrow," he said and looked down on his parchment.  
  
"_Extra_ report?" she asked, pulled out a chair and sat down opposite him. She scanned the report and looked back at him.  
  
"I added the wrong ingredient to my potion yesterday and...Professor Snape got angry, again..."  
  
"And you got punished by getting extra homework?" she asked and looked at his inkbottle again. "Tell me, does the _Professor_ often treat you this...unfairly?" she asked and Neville didn't fail in noticing the change in her tone – it was much colder.  
  
He didn't know how to answer. Yes, he felt that Professor Snape always treated him unfairly, but he could hardly _say_ that to another teacher...  
  
"It's just that I'm not very good at Potions...just like most subjects..." he mumbled and blushed, looking down at the desk. "I...I'm not very good at anything but Herbology. Gran wanted me to learn Ancient Runes, but I don't think I can learn something that difficult..."  
  
"Ancient Runes isn't very difficult," she said and Neville looked at her as he fumbled with a loose thread on his robe.  
  
"Well, Gran says that my father always got top marks in Runes," he said and gave a quick smile, "Hermione says it's very interesting."  
  
"Your parents...are Alice and Frank Longbottom?" she asked after a moment and leaned a little over the desk, gazing at him significantly.  
  
Neville looked at her in surprise. "Yes, Professor...did you know them?" he asked in a hushed voice.  
  
"No, I didn't, but I've heard of them." She looked at him appraisingly for a while before speaking again. "Would you like me to give you some private lessons in Ancient Runes, Neville? It's really no bother, I have too much extra time on my hands."  
  
"I don't know..."  
  
He was curious about the subject that his father had excelled at, but he knew that he couldn't learn it.  
  
"I won't even give you homework, I'll just lend you a book and you can come and talk about it whenever you want to," she said and waited for an answer.  
  
He didn't know what to do, so he nodded and she stood up, walked to her desk and picked up a rather worn out book. "This book describes the runes in a very easy way. I also have some methods that make it easier to remember. Look at the book and come and talk to me when you have questions," she said and gave the book with a supposed smile which didn't reach her eyes.  
  
---  
  
To be continued in chapter 2 – Poor Defence  
  
I apologize for any grammatical errors – English is not my first language. Also, this is my first fiction, so please bear with me ;) 


	2. Poor Defence

**Author's notes**: If you're a MWPP fan, just remember whose PoV this is ;)  
  
No, the little owl in the Owlery is not Pig.  
  
I want to thank my readers for leaving constructive criticism. They've helped me with ideas for this rewritten and revised version of my fic. Chapters 1-3 have been severely changed. Harry, Ron and Neville are no longer in Ancient Runes.  
  
The chapters fit canon now and have been changed to account for that. Please either try to forget that they were ever in Runes, or read the chapters again ;)  
  
**Beta-reader appreciation**: A special thanks to the wonderful Splatt. I couldn't have gotten better beta-reader. Thank you so much for helping me with this chapter – I know it was a terrible challenge. Thanks to Miss K for reading it over as well.  
  
---  
  
**Chapter 2 - Poor Defence**  
  
On Halloween morning Snape walked towards the Owlery deep in thought. He was sending an order to The Apothecary in Diagon Alley. His supply of fluxweed, knotgrass and wolfsbane was running low, and he'd also written down a rather large order for gillyweed, which he thought would be interesting to test it in various potions. He had recently had the brilliant idea of melting gillyweed in sap of Woodspring plant, and by adding a touch of alrun root he might be able to discover a new way of -  
  
Before he realized it he was outside the door to the Owlery and paused as he heard two people talking inside.  
  
"It really doesn't make any sense that Sirius would betray James, I still find it hard to believe when I think back." Snape recognized the voice as Lupin's and held his breath. What did Lupin know about Black's escape?  
  
"You know what they were like at school," Lupin continued.  
  
The door was partly open and Snape moved closer to get a better look. The walls were covered with perches, each supporting the weight of a sleeping owl. The floor was covered with hay and owl droppings, particularly under the perches. Daylight was shining through the large windows and by one of them stood Isolde and Lupin, facing each other.  
  
"Yes I do," Isolde answered curtly, "However, I've discovered that a lot of people changed after leaving school," she paused, "I'm still getting used to the idea of Lily being gone, but I wouldn't put it past Sirius to betray her and James." She looked up at Lupin with a cold, angry glimpse in her eye, "You know what _he_ was like at school."  
  
"Oh, come now, Izzy. _You know_ that he wasn't all that bad. Well, he may have been a little arrogant and reckless, but he really was a good kid with a heart in the right place." Lupin smiled, but then in a sympathetic tone he added, "Look, what happened to -"  
  
"I do not wish to discuss the past Remus!" Isolde interrupted and turned away from him, to look at a tiny owl that was twitting madly on the windowsill.  
  
Snape thought that their conversation had gone far enough and walked into the Owlery, his eyes fixed on Lupin, who greeted Snape with a nod and then joined Isolde in looking at the twitting owl, chuckling.  
  
"Fancy meeting the two of you here," Snape muttered as he passed them, glancing at the owl and wondering what could possibly be so fascinating about it.  
  
"We were just discussing the matter of Sirius Black," said Lupin casually, looking back at Snape. He was wearing old and shabby robes and the fringe of his greying brown hair was partly covering his eyes.  
  
"Indeed?" said Snape and grabbed a school owl from the nearest perch. He was certain that Lupin knew something about Black's escape. Even now Lupin seemed to be defending the murderer.  
  
There was an awkward silence. Snape's eyes meet Lupin's, but in the background he saw that Isolde was still focusing on the owl, which was now running in little circles and flapping its wings. Was that a smile on her face? No, he felt he must have imagined it.  
  
"You'll both be attending the Halloween feast tonight I presume?" Snape asked calmly to break the silence, ignoring the disgruntled hooting coming from the owl he was clutching.  
  
"Yes, I wouldn't miss it," Lupin answered cheerfully, rubbing his hands together.  
  
"Isolde?" Snape asked, curious as to what her response would be.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore has requested that I be there," Isolde answered coolly, now looking out the window, keeping her back pointedly turned.  
  
Snape clenched the parchment order in his hand and was about to say something, but then Lupin spoke. "Ah, there's Harry. I'll see you both tonight then?" and he left the Owlery.  
  
Aware of Isolde moving away from the window, Snape looked at her, but without a word she too left the room, and he was left tying the order roughly to the owl's leg and returning to his office and the Wolfsbane Potion.

---  
  
The feast was a great success. The food was delicious and everyone seemed to be in good humour. Everyone, that is except for Snape and Isolde. Snape kept looking at Lupin, who was in deep conversation with an excited Professor Flitwick. Snape was aware that Isolde kept looking over at him with an expression of great dislike, but by ignoring her, he was determined not to give her the cool pleasure of his attention.  
  
As always, the professors lingered in the Great Hall while waiting for all the students to return to their dormitories. Snape could hear Madam Hooch talking with Professor McGonagall about the upcoming Quiddich match, Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff, and the current score of the Houses. He was about to listen in on the conversation when he looked up and saw Isolde approach Lupin.  
  
"You don't look well, Remus," she said with a tiniest hint of worry, but otherwise she kept her expression coolly masked, holding one of her hands in the other.  
  
"I'm all right. I seem to have caught the flu," Lupin said smiling and caught Snape's eyes as he talked. Snape glared back at him resentfully. "If it gets worse, Severus has kindly agreed to take over my lessons for a few days."  
  
Snape bared his teeth and got restlessly to his feet, watching two 4th year Ravenclaws walk out of the Great Hall with sweets sticking out of their pockets. He decided he'd had enough of socialising for the evening and swept into the small room beside the Hall. He really hated Halloween... He walked over to the old fireplace and stared down his hooked nose, into the flames, his mind wandering...  
  
_He was walking along a corridor after the Halloween feast in his  
third year at Hogwarts, feeling exceptionally pleased with himself  
for discovering new use of the Pixie Crystal Potion. He had been  
awarded 20 points for it in class.  
  
The Slytherins were sharing Potions with the Gryffindors that year  
and that annoying Potter and his friends had been suppressing laughs  
when Professor Lamdon had been complementing him, but he knew that  
they were envious.  
  
He was heading to the library to get some more books on Pixie  
Crystals before going to bed. He heard noise behind him and turned  
around swiftly.  
  
"Hey Snivellus," Sirius Black said in a smug voice, "Quite an  
impression you made on old Lamdon yesterday. He was quite beside  
himself with excitement."  
  
His equally smug friends were standing behind him. James Potter was  
tossing his wand in the air and catching it when it was right in  
front of him. Peter Pettigrew was picking up his own wand of the  
floor after a failed attempt to copy Potter. Remus Lupin stood in  
the back, looking down the corridor over his shoulder.  
  
"Yeah, it's not every day that someone discovers a way to dry up  
slug slime," Potter said, smirking, "Tell me, did you come up with  
the idea by looking in the mirror?" he continued savagely while  
catching his wand.  
  
Snape was alertly clutching his own wand in his robes. He was  
expecting an attack any minute now. A payback for a clever trick  
he'd played on them the day before. They still had small, red  
rashes on their faces as a reminder.  
  
Black was laughing, "Why don't you try mixing it with shampoo and  
test it on yourself?"  
  
His brilliant suggestion made Pettigrew roar with laughter.  
  
Snape pulled out his wand, but Black and Potter had already pulled  
out theirs. Pettigrew's eyes looked like they would pop out any  
moment with excitement as he tamed his laughter. Lupin stood behind  
them with his back against the wall.  
  
"What are you going to do, Snivellus?" said Black, pointing his wand  
at Snape's head, aiming steadily with one eye closed.  
  
Snape realized that as he was outnumbered, he'd never be able to  
jinx them all at once. He took a step backwards, thinking that he  
had to learn who to attack more than one people at a time – if such  
a spell existed.  
  
"Going somewhere?" Potter asked determinedly, his words bouncing of  
the walls in an echo followed by a loud "EXPELLIARMUS!"  
  
Snape's wand flew high into the air and landed behind Lupin.  
  
"Don't touch it Remus, you could catch something," said Black,  
keeping his eyes on Snape. "James?"  
  
"Yes," Potter answered casually.  
  
"Did you like the Halloween decoration in the Great Hall?" he asked  
lightly, looking at the two candle holders that Snape knew were  
hanging on the wall behind him – opposite Black.  
  
"I don't know," he replied, "There seemed to be something missing..."  
  
"Exactly what I was thinking," Black said, "I'm gonna need help with  
this one." They all took a step closer to Snape, forming half a  
circle. With a swish and flick from four wands Snape levitated into  
the air and landed harshly with his back on the wall behind him. He  
managed to grab onto each candle holder and he saw the candles fall  
down on the stone floor, the flames extinguishing on impact,  
splattering the floor with wax. As he was too far from the ground  
to jump, all he could do was to hang on.  
  
"Perfect," Black said, "now we have our scarecrow."  
  
Pettigrew started laughing again at Black's witty remark.  
  
"Not quite," said Potter and flicked his wand, "Stramineus!"  
  
Snape glared at Potter and thinned his lips. He knew very well what  
was about to happen. He felt extreme pain in his fingertips, feet  
and ears. He looked at his fingers and saw them grow into a batch  
of straws. He quickly looked down and found better hold on the  
candle holders. He felt straw growing out of his ears and feet. It  
made his eyes water, but he didn't show them that he was hurting -  
He wouldn't give them the pleasure.  
  
The boys were roaring with laughter. A group of Gryffindors and  
Ravenclaws were approaching...  
_  
"Severus!"  
  
With a jolt, Snape looked up and rapidly gathered his thoughts. Professor McGonagall was talking to him with a furrowed forehead.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Haven't you heard a word I've said? Dumbledore has sent for us. Apparently something's happened to the Fat Lady."

---  
  
"Sirius Black inside the castle!? How did he get in!?" Professor McGonagall was utterly bewildered as the teachers stood in the gloomy corridor, talking in whispered voices.  
  
"We must find him immediately," said Snape quietly. He narrowed his eyes as he took notice that Lupin didn't look very concerned. He was certain that Lupin knew something about Black – his behaviour was very suspicious. They had, after all, been very close friends.  
  
"I don't think he's still in the castle," said Lupin and shrugged, "He'll be long gone by now." His face was pale and taken and he looked like he would collapse any minute. Clearly the effect of his moon cycle...  
  
The only noticeable difference in Isolde's behaviour was that she seemed absentminded, looking down the stairs, as if she was in her own universe for the time being. He thought he heard her mutter something under her breath, but with Lupin standing between them, Snape couldn't be sure. He thought he'd heard her whisper the name 'Sirius Black' in a cold and resentful tone.  
  
They searched the castle that night but didn't find any trace of Black. They had many theories about how he'd managed to get in, but they found no evidence. For the next days, Sirius Black was all the teachers talked about in the staffroom. The only two people who didn't participate in the conversations were Snape and Isolde, who sat each in their corner, minding their own business.  
  
In a wave of heightened security measures, teachers had been instructed to escort students between lessons. Snape never failed to notice that Isolde, when bringing students to Potions, stood motionless at the top of the last flight of steps, watching until the students were safely inside, before turning on her heel and leaving. If they ever happened to pass in the hallways, she either looked the other way or threw him a disgruntled look before sweeping past him. Whenever he did meet her eyes, he'd keep his expression calm, and perhaps smirked at her once in a while, just to see if she would react in any way.

---  
  
The day before the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff match Snape walked into the staffroom, ignoring the Quidditch discussions. To his relief though, the teachers had finally stopped discussing the Sirius Black incident. He had temporarily taken over Lupin's lessons, seeing that his werewolf conditions were getting worse. Snape was very pleased as he'd always wanted to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts. _He_ was much more qualified than Lupin or any other.  
  
He had a sneer on his face as he sat down in his usual armchair and picked up an empty piece of parchment lying on the table. He felt pleased with himself for taking the total of 10 points from the third year Gryffindors and putting Ronald Weasley in detention. Not bad for a day's work. Weasley really shouldn't have defended his precious know-it-all Granger. Why did she always have to prove that she was the smartest student in class?  
  
He crumpled up the parchment he was clutching in his hand and threw it into the fire. It was really irritating, seeing her jumping up and down in her seat, overly keen on answering a question. He really should have put her in detention... That's what she'd deserve for the insolence of answering a question without being asked!  
  
Isolde walked in with a thick book in her arms and sat down in the other end of the room next to Professor McGonagall, placing the book on the table.  
  
"Isolde!" Professor Sprout called and leaned over the table, "Since Ravenclaw isn't playing, who will you be siding with?" she asked expectantly, unknowingly scratching at a hole in the table with her chipped fingernail.  
  
"_Miss Montage_ doesn't follow Quidditch," Snape smoothly informed Sprout, trying to hold back a smirk while glancing over at Isolde. The chattering of the teachers faded into silence and they either looked at him or Isolde, some in amazement, some in alertness.  
  
Isolde shot him a venomous look. "I don't follow Quidditch," she said and smiled stiffly, looking at Sprout who furrowed her brow and looked from Snape to Isolde.  
  
"So, you're not attending the match at all?" Sprout asked in a shocked tone.  
  
Isolde pulled some parchment out of her book and started paging through them. After a while, clearly realizing that the teachers were still waiting for an answer – or reaction, she looked up and cast Snape another look before answering. "I will be attending," she said coolly, "It is after all a tradition for the teachers to attend, isn't it?"  
  
The room filled with buzzing discussions again and Snape stood up from the table to leave the room after exchanging a quick look with McGonagall.

---  
  
On the match day itself, the weather was terrible. The rain was cold and lightning were restlessly lighting up the sky. Snape didn't really mind the weather, although he was standing grumpily amongst the teachers, who were gathered in the stands. He preferred cold weather and having thunders and lightning only added to the atmosphere. He wasn't paying much attention to the game as watching players battle the wind wasn't exactly his idea of quality Quidditch. He stared at the sky ahead, waiting for the next lightning.  
  
The positive side of the match going so badly was that they wouldn't be able to score many points, which was good for Slytherin. He clutched his cloak closer to his chest and after the lightning burst out behind the dark clouds, flashing the gathering around the field, he observed the other teachers.  
  
Professor Sinistra, the Astronomy teacher, was arguing about the match with Professor Trelawney, whose ability to foresee daily events was about as successful as Hagrid's cooking. Professor McGonagall, her back pointedly turned to the Divination professor, was waging a friendly bet with Professor Sprout, the two Heads of House backing their own teams solidly. The others were just too cold to remove the thick scarves from around their faces and contribute to the debate of which team would win.  
  
"This really is terrible weather," McGonagall shouted over her shoulder. "At least we have some shelter, but the poor players... It's impossible to play under these circumstances!"  
  
Snape smirked behind her and raised an eyebrow, "Come, come, Minerva. No use in blaming it on the weather..."  
  
The teachers had to hang on to Professor Flitwick who had almost been blown away three times by sudden gusts of wind. "Well, I just hope the Ravenclaws will get better weather in the next match," he said in his high pinched voice that could hardly be heard because of the roaring wind.  
  
Snape looked over the field. The players were kicking off the ground after a time-out called by Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor team captain. After a clap of thunder, he saw Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff seeker, zoom across the field in pursuit of the golden snitch. Shortly after, he saw Harry Potter heading in Diggory's direction, leaning heavily on his broom.  
  
Suddenly, McGonagall gasped for breath and clutched Dumbledore, who was sitting next to her. "Albus! Look!" she pointed down to the field.  
  
All around them, students were standing up from their seats, some screaming, others too terrified to make a sound. They either pushed their way to get out of the stands or stood frozen, pointing down at the hundreds of dementors that glided onto the field.  
  
The players clearly hadn't noticed since they were still playing the game, with the exception of one. Snape saw Potter staring down at the dementors through his glasses, stiffly sitting on his broom high in the air.  
  
"NO!" Dumbledore shouted forcefully and stood up swiftly. He sprinted towards the field with his wand aloft and McGonagall on his heels.  
  
Snape quickly followed her and the rest of the teachers, and passed Sprout, who was still holding onto Flitwick to prevent him from being blown away. Snape saw that Potter was falling off his broomstick, pale faced and unconscious, clearly affected by the dementors. Snape raised his wand to slow his fall, but Dumbledore beat him to it.  
  
Snape looked over his shoulder and noticed a group of the dementors suddenly turning towards the teachers. He saw that Isolde was nearest to them, fumbling through her robes and finally pulling out her wand.  
  
"_Expecto Patronum_ -" she tried, but her wand didn't produce a patronus. "_Exp_..." Snape saw her helplessly close her eyes and fall to the ground.  
  
"_Expecto Patronum_!" he shouted and a clear silvery form of a large falcon shot out of his wand, and gracefully chased away the dementors surrounding Isolde.  
  
He looked back to the field and saw that Dumbledore was chasing away the rest of the dementors with his phoenix patronus. As Dumbledore seemed to be in control of the situation, Snape hurried over to Isolde and bent over her. She was shivering on the ground, unconscious, cold and wet. He took of his cloak, wrapped it tightly around her and carried her toward the castle, bowing his head against the raging wind.

---  
  
_The wind had stopped and there was cold silence. She heard a low, desperate voice in the distance, a woman crying "...help me, please...help me..." A cold voice answered "Crucio..."_  
  
She opened her eyes and the high ceiling of the hospital wing slowly came into focus. What had happened? How did she get here? She tried to sit up but stopped as she heard voices talking in the far end of the wing. One of the voices she recognized as Hermione Granger's, and she listened to her talk about Dumbledore attacking the dementors. The dementors... Why couldn't she make a patronus? She had been able to do it before...but now that she thought about it, she'd never really faced a real dementor until just now... She had focused on a happy memory...but then realized that it wasn't really a happy memory. She heard voices in the hall - Professor McGonagall was talking in a hushed voice with Snape and someone else. What were they saying...? She couldn't hear because the kids were talking about Harry's broomstick, which had apparently been shattered into pieces. She sighed and looked at the side table and saw a large piece of chocolate sitting on it.  
  
Professor McGonagall came to see her shortly. "Isolde, how are you feeling?" she asked in a worried tone, sitting in a chair next to Isolde's bed and grabbing her hand.  
  
"I'm all right," Isolde whispered, placing her loose hand on her forehead and closing her eyes with a sigh.  
  
"Severus and I were on our way to see you, but Poppy wouldn't allow both of us in at the same time. She has just thrown out the Weasleys and Miss Granger," she sighed and added, "I'm only allowed to visit you briefly."  
  
"I really don't want to see him," Isolde said weakly and looked at Professor McGonagall. "Where's Dumbledore?" she asked.  
  
"He's talking to Mr. Fudge. He's furious, understandably. I mean really! Having dementors at Hogwarts," she shuddered and stroked her hair back, as if to make sure it was still sitting tightly in a bun. "I do hope they catch Sirius Black soon so that things can go back to normal."  
  
"Yes, me too," Isolde answered. "...Professor," she said in a low voice, curling the corner of her bed sheet, "...did Lily... suffer...?"  
  
Professor McGonagall took a deep breath and glanced at Harry, who appeared to be sleeping. "She was killed immediately and there were no sign of the Cruciatus Curse being used. ...But she would have known that James was dead by then and that You-Know-Who was going to kill Harry." She talked in a low voice, looking at Harry again.  
  
Isolde glanced at the chocolate beside her, "I hope I don't have to eat that."  
  
"Chocolate used to be your favourite," Professor McGonagall smiled. "I remember seeing you and Lily with full pockets of it after every Hogsmeade weekend."  
  
"Used to be..." Isolde sighed and pushed away the memory. She suddenly sat up with a gasp and immediately felt disoriented. Professor McGonagall stood up from her seat and pushed Isolde back down.  
  
"What are you doing?" she asked wide eyed.  
  
"Claresco Potion! I _need_ it. Now!" Isolde insisted and tried to sit up again. She assumed that she had been unconscious for a while and she hadn't taken her daily dose that day.  
  
Professor McGonagall held her down and Madam Pomfrey came running in, holding a vile of yellow liquid.  
  
"Albus told me to have this ready for you, but you need to lay still, Miss Montage" Madam Pomfrey said and poured the thick, horribly tasting potion into Isolde's mouth.  
  
Isolde coughed violently and grabbed the water goblet from the side table. "It's not enough, I need more," she said in between short breaths. That had barely been half her dose!  
  
"Albus explicitly told me not to give you more than this. He said it would be enough," she said and examined Isolde's eyes and ears, snapping her fingers loudly right up against them.  
  
Isolde wasn't happy with this at all. She was certain that the dose was insufficient, but there was little she could do about it. If she knew Dumbledore correctly, he had made sure that the nurse didn't have any more of the potion. She slid back down onto her pillow and closed her eyes. The best she could do was to wait and see...

---  
  
Snape sat in his office and went over the dementor incident in his mind. Cornelius Fudge had managed to convince Dumbledore to allow the dementors to stay. Fudge had been very apologetic, but he was convinced the dementors could find and capture Black.  
  
Snape stood up and started pacing the floor. _Why had she collapsed_...? he thought for what was probably the fiftieth time that evening, as he stopped in front of his desk and then started pacing again. _She had produced patronus before_...he thought as he looked at a jar full of dead spiders, picked it up and placed it back on the shelf.  
  
He walked towards his chair. _He_, Severus Snape would show the Ministry... Snape sat down, closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He would catch Sirius Black himself... Next time Black ventured into the castle, he'd be ready...  
  
Snape opened his eyes, picked up his quill and rolled it between his fingers, feeling the light breeze from the feather touch his chin. He of all people knew she could produce a patronus - he remembered it well. He dropped the quill and closed his eyes again.  
  
_I hope Black shows up on my watch – I'm going to catch him_...he thought with relish.  
  
_He was sitting in a carriage, which was attached to a Thestral. He  
knew that most of the other students couldn't see Thestrals, but he,  
Severus Snape, could see them quite clearly. He was dreading the  
summer holiday as he didn't want to go back to his aunt. After his  
uncle died she'd become unbearably bitter. How had his uncle put up  
with the old hag? He couldn't wait to start his fifth year next  
September...  
  
The door opened. It was that Ravenclaw girl. He couldn't remember  
her name.  
  
"Oh, hello," she said smiling. "Is it okay if my friend and I share  
your carriage? All the other ones are taken."  
  
What was she smiling at? He wanted to be left alone!  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Thank you," she said, still smiling. "Lily, there's room in here,"  
she called over her shoulder.  
  
Great! That annoying Gryffindor Mudblood! That's all he needed.  
  
The girls sat down in the carriage and the Gryffindor girl, Lily  
Evans, was laughing. Why did she have to laugh? It was quite  
irritating... She looked at him and whispered something to the  
Ravenclaw girl as the carriage took off.  
  
"Come on, Lily," the Ravenclaw girl said in a hushed voice,  
"Everywhere else was taken. Besides, why do you mind him?"  
  
They weren't talking loudly, but he could hear every word they were  
saying in spite of the rattling of the carriage as it travelled over  
uneven grounds, and from the corner of his eyes he could see  
everything they were doing.  
  
"Isolde Montage!" Evans said while giggling into her hand, which  
covered her mouth. "Really, don't you know who that is? It's  
Snivellus," she whispered quietly.  
  
"Who?" Isolde curiously glanced at him sideways.  
  
"That's what some of the Gryffindors call him, although I never do.  
Just thought you'd recognize him by that name. His real name is  
Severus Snape. He's a Slytherin. You know, the one Sirius and  
James are always bullying," she giggled.  
  
"Oh, him," Isolde glanced at him again. "I don't like the way  
Sirius and his friends treat other students. It's mean. And it's  
not funny!" she scowled at Evans, who was still giggling.  
  
"I wasn't laughing at that, Izzy, I was just thinking that you've  
been sharing lessons with him for four years now and you don't know  
who he is."  
  
"Well... I've only shared History of Magic and Ancient Runes with  
the Slytherins..." said Isolde while playing with a dark lock of her  
hair and rolled her eyes thoughtfully at the ceiling of the  
carriage, frowning, as if trying to remember other times when she  
should have noticed him.  
  
"I know, I know, you pay too much attention in class," Evans smiled,  
"It's so typical of you not to notice the people sitting behind  
you."  
  
After a moment of silence Evans looked out the window. "James asked  
me to go with him to Hogsmeade next Halloween."  
  
"I know you like him, even though you won't admit it," Isolde smiled  
again, taunting her friend.  
  
"No, I don't! But I know how much you like Sirius, so I told James  
that I'd go out with him when you'd say you'd go out with Sirius."  
  
The girls were laughing uncontrollably.  
  
"Well," said Isolde, "That's never going to happen then. He's too  
arrogant for my taste, but he is cute."  
  
They kept talking and laughing. Isolde sometimes glanced at him  
curiously. Was she going to mock him? he thought and tried to  
ignore her. He wouldn't stand for that, he'd jinx her first – at  
least cast a Silencing Charm on her and her friend! And did she  
constantly have to smile? It was terribly annoying. And what was  
that banging sound!  
_  
Snape woke up with a start. It took him a moment to realize that someone was knocking on his door. "Just a moment," he snarled at the unknown visitor.  
  
He thought about his dream, which wasn't really a dream because it had happened years ago. He remembered that in the following fifth year, the Slytherins shared Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws and Isolde had approached him after one lesson to ask him to help her with the Proteco Spell. When he had walked away, ignoring her, Sirius Black had offered to help her...  
  
He stood up and opened the door. It was Neville Longbottom, looking terribly frightened.  
  
"Yes? What is it?" Snape asked sharply.  
  
"I...you...you..." Pale faced, Longbottom seemed to be at the verge of fainting.  
  
"Well!?" He was very irritated by the sight of the boy, "_What_ is it Longbottom?"  
  
"I...uh...d-detention..." he managed to stutter, now with a red face and sweaty palms.  
  
"Right," remembering that he'd put him in detention for messing up his potion again the day before. "I'm sure Mr. Filch has _some_ use for you. Well, come along then," he spat as he swept out of his office.

---  
  
To be continued in chapter 3 - Memories Revealed  
  
I apologize for any grammatical errors – English is not my first language. Also, this is my first fiction, so please bear with me ;)


	3. Memories Revealed

**Author's notes:** If you don't like the runes, just skip over them ;)  
  
I want to thank my readers for leaving constructive criticism. They've helped me with ideas for this rewritten and revised version of my fic. Chapters 1-3 have been severely changed. Harry, Ron and Neville are no longer in Ancient Runes.  
  
The chapters fit canon now and have been changed to account for that. Please either try to forget that they were ever in Runes, or read the chapters again ;)  
  
**Beta-reader appreciation:** Many thanks to the amazing Splatt. Again, this chapter must have been such a challenge to beta. Thank you for the patience. Thanks to Miss K for reading it over as well.  
  
---  
  
**Chapter 3 - Memories Revealed**  
  
Neville had to spend his entire afternoon helping Filch, the school caretaker, scrub ink off the walls and floors. Peeves, the Hogwarts poltergeist, had been so excited with the all the screaming students, who had flooded into the castle from the Quidditch stands, that he had picked up all the inkbottles he could find and thrown them at aimed targets.  
  
They scrubbed in silence, in between Filch's mumbling about Peeves, and Neville had gone over the six Futhark alphabet letters he had learned, at least twenty times in his mind.  
  
_Fehu, pronounced 'Fyeh', meaning cattle and wealth. The rune of Freyja, the leader of the Valkyries, Njordur, the God of the Sea, and Freyr, the God of Harvest...  
_  
At first he had been very intimidated when he looked into Professor Montage's book. The runes were many and had very strange names. But now Neville regretted that he hadn't chosen Ancient Runes as a subject... He really wished that he had taken it instead of Divination – Professor Trelawney was still acting very strangely and he wasn't sure that he believed in such a thing as an 'Inner Eye'. In his first Divination lesson, Professor Trelawney had said that his Gran wasn't well, but Neville had written to her right after the lesson and found out that she was very healthy! Professor Montage, however, had told him that true Seers did exist and that Nordic Runes were sometimes used to see into the future.  
  
_Uruz, pronounced 'Urthur' after the oldest one of the three witches of Fate...  
_  
He and Professor Montage had started slowly, taking each rune in each lesson and talk about it for a long time. For every rune she told him a story – a myth, about what the rune meant and what it was most often used for. Neville was fascinated by the stories and the tales of the ancient Nordic Gods. Each of the runes belonged to a God and each had a meaning, a story and a special power. By listening to and reading the stories, Neville had no difficulty remembering.  
  
_Thurisaz, pronounced 'Thursi', meaning Giant. The rune of Thor, the champion of the Gods and enemy of the Giants..._  
  
He suspected though that she taught him differently than she taught in her lessons. Hermione still talked about how Professor Montage was cold and curt in class, although not as much as in the beginning of the school year, but Hermione enjoyed the subject as well, so she didn't mind. Besides, Professor Montage had often given her House points for being smart and answering questions... That's something Neville had only gotten a few times in Herbology.  
  
_Ansuz, pronounced 'Ansar', meaning Spirit of Life. The rune of Odin, the ruler of the Gods.  
_  
But one thing was for sure; Professor Montage was nothing like Professor Snape. She was very cold and distant most of the times, but she was also _nice_ and patient. Professor Snape would never help him this way – not that Neville would want him to!  
  
_Raidho, pronounced 'Reith', meaning a Journey to Justice. The rune of Forseti, the God of justice.  
_  
She sometimes made Neville practice writing the runes and most of the time, while she waited, she would sit by the window, absent-minded gazing onto the grounds. Neville often wondered what she was thinking, but he didn't dare ask.  
  
_Kenaz, pronounced 'Kjarni', meaning Fire of Creation. The rune of Freyja and the dwarves._  
  
Neville had been scrubbing a very stubborn spot, concentrating on the tale of the dwarves, when he spotted Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle from the corner of his eye. They walked to him and stopped at a fair distance, waiting until Filch had moved on into the next corridor.  
  
"Hey Longbottom," Malfoy said with his friends sniggering rather loudly behind him. "How are your parents doing? That mad Runes professor would know, wouldn't she?" Neville felt puzzled and stared into Malfoy's pleased face and watched him quickly raise his eyebrow mockingly and walk away.  
  
Neville had stopped scrubbing the floor and continued to stare, open mouthed, in the direction the boys had disappeared into, towards the Great Hall. _Mad Runes professor? Professor Montage? Did Malfoy know about his parents? Did Professor Montage know more than she had told him - about his parents?  
_  
"Get to work boy!" Filch croaked behind him.  
  
---  
  
Neville knocked hesitantly on Professor Montage's big and dark office door.  
  
"Come in," said a steady voice, followed by the sound of parchment being shuffled.  
  
Professor Montage looked up from her parchment as he entered. "Neville? We didn't make an appointment today...did we?"  
  
"No, not today...I just wanted to talk..." Neville said and looked at the floor as he didn't know how to ask about what was burning on his mind. He looked around the office. He had never been in it before since they always met in the classroom. It was small and round with grey stone walls, and several books and parchment in the shelves. A desk was placed in the middle of the room, covered in parchment and open books, and there was a small white box, with pink flowers on it, sitting on the floor under one of the shelves. It looked very out of place as there were no other personal items decorating the room.  
  
"Have a seat, I'll make us some tea," she said after a moment's silence and lit the fireplace with her wand. She flicked the wand at the kettle standing on top of the mantelpiece and it levitated over the fire, and started boiling after a short while.  
  
"So, what did you want to talk about?" she asked, resting her hands on the desk, and looking at him in what seemed like a patient way.  
  
"Uh...I was helping Mr. Filch cleaning yesterday and Malfoy... I was just wondering...he said something and I just..." He was very nervous, but his previous experience with the professor had made him more confident in talking to her. She had never been mean to him, or put him down.  
  
"What did Mr. Malfoy say?" She looked at him intently, with slightly narrowed eyes, as if expecting something bad.  
  
"He said the Runes professor would know how my parents are doing...I don't know what he meant," he said and glanced back at the box on the floor.  
  
"I see," she said after a moment, as she pushed herself from the desk, and poured tea into two cups with the levitated kettle. A thin line of steam rose from the cup she handed to Neville.  
  
"You...you said you didn't know my parents...so, how would you know how they're doing?" Neville asked and brought the cup to his lips, but put it back down, thinking that it might be too hot to drink just yet. He had often burned his tongue before.  
  
There was a long pause and Neville thought for a minute that she hadn't heard him, but then he realized she seemed to be struggling with some thought or other – her eyes looked both sad and angry at the same time and she kept giving her head a small shake, as if to rid it of some unwelcome memory. Then, with a deep sigh, she looked across at Neville, and began to speak.  
  
"Well, since Mr. Malfoy clearly _knows_, and I'm certain I know who told him..." she paused with slightly narrowed eyes before shaking her head again, "I might as well tell you." She took a sip from her cup, building up Neville's curiosity with her pause - although that was probably not her intention...  
  
"Just over thirteen years ago I was attacked by Death Eaters, just like your parents were. I was tortured half to death by the Cruciatus Curse. A year and a half ago I woke up in a hospital bed and I didn't know where I was, or remember what had happened." She said all this rather quickly, as if she had decided to say it all before she could stop herself. She took one deep breath before continuing. "It was explained to me that I'd been asleep for twelve years. The healers called it Adsensus Lethargus, or 'Reality Coma'. I regained my memory shortly after I woke up." She paused again for a moment and looked into her cup, tracing it with her finger absent-minded. "I was cared for in the same room as your parents, Neville. Another patient told me about what had happened to them."  
  
Neville stared at her with an open mouth. "The Cruciatus Curse? And you woke up? ...And you're all right..."  
  
"Now don't get your hopes up Neville," Professor Montage said quickly and placed her cup on the saucer. She caught his eyes and continued, "My circumstance was very different from your parent's."  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked, the hope in his chest slowly and painfully dying.  
  
"I can't tell you exactly how, but your parents have been awake for many years. The healers say that each case is different when it comes to long term victims of the Cruciatus Curse. Your parents half-woke up after a very short Adsensus Lethargus and they still haven't reclaimed their reality. I woke up after a long sleep and I'm fully recovered...well...almost." She frowned a bit, and cast her eyes quickly on the wall before looking at Neville again. There was a long moment of silence where they simply looked into each others eyes, Neville thinking about what she had said, and she probably wondering if Neville fully understood what she had just told him.  
  
"The healers thought it a miracle..." she said at last, broke the eye-contact and gazed into her cup again, stirring her tea thoughtfully and taking another sip before looking at him.  
  
He thought she must have felt his disappointment as she sighed quietly and added, "I'm very sorry Neville. I do remember you visiting them. In fact, you were there when I woke up for the first time. I couldn't see you because of the curtains, but I could hear you talking to them."  
  
Neville looked at his cup - it was still full, but the tea was getting cold.  
  
"They kept me for a month after I woke up," Professor Montage continued, "but they couldn't find anything wrong with me, so I was free to leave. I've been going in for check-ups regularly, and I sometimes stop by your parents to see how they're doing. They'd be glad to know that you weren't harmed..."  
  
Neville looked up at her. For a brief moment he thought he'd seen actual warmth in her eyes...  
  
"Gran," Neville said, "always has to introduce me when we go and visit...they never remember..." he looked down into his palms and felt a tickling tear run down his cheek.  
  
"Yes, I'm afraid that's the side effect for those who have lost their contact with reality," she said softly and gave him a moment to think about what had been said.  
  
"Neville, I think you should go back to your common room now," she said quietly and glanced at him with a forced smile. Neville sniffed heavily and wiped his tears away with his sleeve, but just then they were interrupted by a commotion in the hallway outside. Filch's voice could be heard bellowing down the corridor; from the sound of things, Peeves still had some inkbottles left, and appeared to be accompanying the creative lyrics he was chanting with the occasional smash of a bottle.  
  
_Filchy, Filchy, Filchy Filch,  
Filchy, squibly, flying fist...  
_  
"Yes Professor," Neville said, still thinking about what she'd told him. He closed the door quietly behind him, checked from which direction the angry voice of Filch was coming and set off down the opposite corridor, deep in thought.  
  
---  
  
Isolde didn't stay at Hogwarts over Christmas. Nobody, except for Dumbledore, knew where she'd gone; no one saw her leave, no one saw her come back, but on the last night of the holidays, she once again walked into the Great Hall. Snape noticed that she wasn't exactly smiling, but she was looking rather pleased about something, still wrapped in her winter coat and holding many large and old looking scrolls in her arms. The first thing she did was approach Dumbledore and ask to have a private word with him.  
  
Some of the other teachers looked curiously at each other as Dumbledore and Isolde walked to the entrance of the Great Hall. Snape walked silently towards them and stopped close enough so that he could hear what they were saying.  
  
Isolde handed the scrolls over to Dumbledore. "Ah, excellent work, Isolde," said Dumbledore as he examined them thoughtfully. "I'll have a look at them this evening and we can hopefully start working on them before Christmas next year, after I've gathered more facts. You should rest before the students arrive, you must be exhausted after the journey."  
  
With that, Isolde bid him good night and walked up the stairs. Snape watched her disappear around the corner and tried to imagine what all that was about. Where had she been? What was she doing for Dumbledore? It was a while before he realized that Dumbledore was looking at him. Snape kept his calm as he met his eyes, and didn't even bother to pretend that he hadn't overheard the conversation.  
  
"Severus, I will need your help on this...research we're conducting. I will talk to you further when we start working on these," Dumbledore said and lifted up the scrolls.  
  
Feeling greatly disappointed with the lack of explanation, Snape calmly said "Yes, Headmaster," and left for his dungeon.  
  
---  
  
In February there was another Sirius Black incident inside the castle. This time he had entered the Gryffindor boys' dormitory and woken up Ron Weasley. The teachers spent the night searching the castle for Sirius. Again, he was not found, nor was there any lead to how he'd gotten in. After the castle had been searched extensively, some of the teachers returned to their private chambers while others were guarding the corridors.  
  
Isolde was one of those who wasn't on patrolling duty and lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about what had just happened. Sirius Black...Sirius Black... Just thinking his name made her angry! The arrogant, self-absorbed, murdering bully, Sirius Black! She thought about what she would do and what she'd say if she met him. She had never been able to forgive him for _killing_ Lily. Lily had been her very best friend for many years and it still hurt thinking about her... Everyone had had time to come to terms with her death, everyone but Isolde, as from her point of view, Lily had been alive and well a year and a half ago. At first she hadn't understood why He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had killed her, but as soon as Dumbledore explained to her about Sirius's betrayal...  
  
From these thoughts she fell asleep and started dreaming. Her dreams were strange and blurry until just before she woke up, when she dreamt memories – an incident from the past she hadn't thought about in a long time...  
  
_James and his friends were sitting in the shadow of a tree, along  
with Lily and some other Gryffindor girls. She waved at Isolde and  
called her over. As Isolde reached her she noticed Snape sitting  
near by, with soaking wet hair. She looked towards the Quidditch  
field and saw that Sirius was emerging from it. It was Friday  
afternoon in their fifth year and they had just taken the Potions  
OWL. It had gone well for all except for Peter, who sat there  
complaining about it to Remus Lupin.  
  
"Are you ready for your Advanced Flying exam, Izzy?" Lily asked with  
an anxious smile.  
  
"Yes, I am. I mean, it shouldn't be very difficult, should it?  
It's just basic manoeuvres..."  
  
Lily must have seen her perplexed expression while she looked at  
Snape. "It was Sirius and James again," she answered before Isolde  
could ask. "They cast an Aqua Bubble Spell on him a moment ago, and  
a big one too. I think Snape's still trying to think of a way to  
get back at them."  
  
"Hey, look who's still there," Sirius called a few feet away from  
them, smirking in the way only he could. Everyone turned to look at  
Snape, who seemed to be pretending that he hadn't heard Sirius,  
keeping his eyes fixed on the exam paper, but not moving them.  
"James, what do you say?" Sirius continued, "Should we wash his hair  
again?"  
  
"I -" James started.  
  
"Don't even think about it!"  
  
"Aw, come on Izzy, we're just having a bit of fun. Besides, it's  
only Snivellus."  
  
"Fun!? I don't see anything funny about bullying people. And stop  
calling him that!" she said and placed her hands on her hips.  
  
"And how are you going to make me?" he asked in a derisive way, now  
standing directly in front of her.  
  
"You think you're so clever, always hanging around your friends.  
Here's an idea – why not challenge him to a duel one-on-one, instead  
of four-on-one?" Isolde said in a loud voice, catching the attention  
of the nearest people. She felt very uncomfortable standing so  
close to Sirius.  
  
"It's not like he's Mr. Innocent - he does his share. Why are you  
protecting him anyway? He's never lifted a finger to help you, has  
he?"  
  
Isolde thought about the time she'd asked Snape to help her with the  
Proteco Spell earlier that year. Sirius offered to help her, but  
Sirius had had something completely different on his mind when they  
got together to practice.  
  
"Well, it's not like you've helped me either, is it?" Isolde  
snapped.  
  
"You're just playing hard to get, just like your friend here, Lily,"  
he answered with a sweet smile as he jerked his head in Lily's  
direction. "Will you meet me in the south tower tonight?" he asked  
bluntly, and lifted his eyebrow teasingly at her.  
  
"No, I will not!" Isolde answered in a dignified voice.  
  
"Aw, that stings," Sirius said, holding his hand over his heart, his  
head leaning to one side. She knew that he loved teasing her,  
almost as much as James loved to tease Lily.  
  
"Well, as much as I enjoy this conversation," Isolde said with  
sarcasm, "I have a practical flying exam to attend."  
  
"Flying exam?" he asked with a short laugh. "Where were you last  
Tuesday?"  
  
"You know very well that I was in the hospital wing, after your Fire-  
crab attacked me in our exam last Monday," she said and looked at  
her left hand. It was healed now, but it had burned really badly.  
Sirius had been showing off as usual, and had been careless. Of  
course the teacher hadn't seen it and thought it had been a mishap –  
and not Sirius's usual reckless behaviour. Fortunately though, it  
had happened at the very end of the Care of Magical Creatures OWL.  
  
Isolde turned on her heel and walked towards the Quidditch field,  
where the exam was to take place. As she reached it she heard  
Sirius, James and Peter laughing. She looked back and saw Snape  
glaring at them, dropping his bag and then walking away from them,  
towards the Quidditch field.  
  
The broom was ready for her to mount. The examiner was waiting for  
her while she put her book bag down and mounted the broom.  
  
"Right. This is Advanced Flying Examination. You are to do these  
manoeuvres," he handed her a piece of parchment with instructions.  
"When I blow the whistle I want you to kick off the ground and do  
your first manoeuvre. Are you ready?" Isolde looked over her  
shoulder and saw Snape standing in the shadow, watching her. In the  
distance she saw Sirius, also watching, while his friends were still  
laughing under the tree. Isolde heard the sound of a whistle and  
she kicked off the ground.  
  
She directed the broom upwards. Her first task was to go into a  
sharp dive and pull up just before hitting the ground. When she was  
high in the air she directed the broom downwards at a good speed.  
When she was half way from the ground she lost control of the broom.  
It started flying on its own. It zoomed to the right, then to the  
left, taking a swoop downwards and then flying up. Sirius, Lily,  
James and Lupin were running towards her, but Snape was already  
standing in the middle of the field. The examiner didn't quite know  
what to do and kept shouting instructions.  
  
"I can't control it," she called back and let out a yell as the  
broom swooped down and knocked the examiner down. The broom took  
her up into the air again, and looking down she saw that the  
examiner wasn't moving.  
  
The broom turned swiftly in the air and took another dive towards  
the middle of the field. "SNAPE!! GET OUT OF THE WAY!!" she  
shouted, terrified that she would harm more people.  
  
But Snape didn't move. He stood firmly in his place, pulled out his  
wand and shouted "ACCIO!"  
  
Isolde felt that she was being pulled sharply off the broom. She  
was being pulled with great force towards Snape, at a very rapid  
speed. She landed forcefully in Snape's arms and he fell backwards  
at the impact. They rolled on the ground, until Isolde was lying on  
her back with Snape on top of her. They looked at each other and he  
seemed rather surprised at his own accomplishment. All Isolde  
managed to do was to sigh a quiet "...wow..."  
  
He stood up and mumbled "No problem," while dusting his robes.  
  
"Izzy! Izzy!" Lily came running. "Are you all right!??"  
  
Isolde, was still sitting on the ground, looking up at Snape. She  
slowly wiped away the few drops that had fallen on her from his  
hair.  
  
"Izzy?" Lily kneeled down next to her.  
  
"What...?" She turned her head towards Lily, still wrapped up in  
disbelief of what had just happened.  
  
"Are you all right?" Lily asked in a worried voice. "How did this  
happen?" she said as she pulled Isolde to her feet.  
  
"Ask him." Snape pointed at Sirius, smirked at him and walked away.  
  
"Me?" Sirius turned to Isolde after narrowing his eyes at Snape, "Do  
you think that I'd intentionally harm you?" he asked in a rather  
shaky voice. His face was very pale.  
  
"You were hinting it under that tree!" Lily hissed at him.  
  
"No - no, I wasn't..." He looked at the broom that was lying in  
pieces beside Isolde.  
  
"You said that she'd look at you differently if you saved her of a  
flying broom."  
  
"I just meant if I would save her, that's all," he turned his head  
towards Lily.  
  
"Then why did you explicitly say 'flying broom'?!" Lily shouted  
angrily. When he didn't answer she added, "Well, your plan didn't  
work, now did it? Snape stole your thunder, didn't he?!"  
  
A watchful James, a very pale Lupin and a seemingly unconcerned  
Peter were standing behind Sirius.  
  
Sirius's voice grew dimmer, "Snivellus should keep his big nose out  
of other people's business. What was he doing here anyway?"  
  
"Well," Lily answered angrily, "He probably heard you talking and  
assumed that you'd put a jinx on her broom! You know, I really  
should report you!"  
  
"Where's your proof?" James had stepped in, crossing his arms in  
front of him after ruffling his hair with his hand. He raised his  
eyebrow at Lily.  
  
"You saw Sirius walk from the field earlier!" she answered, taking a  
step of determination in his direction.  
  
"That doesn't prove anything. Snivellus could have jinxed the  
broom. Anyone could have done it." He smiled at Lily's fury,  
clearly enjoying arguing with her. Isolde could see Lily's face go  
red with anger.  
  
"Lily, you really should calm down," James continued, "You should  
take Izzy to the hospital wing and have Madam Pomfrey clean her from  
top to bottom. She was, after all, touched by that git."  
  
Isolde didn't say anything. She heard the examiner moan a few feet  
away from her and she slowly looked at Snape, who had collected his  
bag from under the tree, and was walking up the stairs of the  
castle.  
_  
The dream changed into a flash of another memory...  
  
_She was lying on the floor and could taste blood when she swallowed.  
She turned her head and saw a faceless man in a black robe. Blood  
was dripping from his clutched hand...  
_  
---  
  
To be continued in chapter 4 – Malfoy's Mischief  
  
I apologize for any grammatical errors – English is not my first language. Also, this is my first fiction, so please bear with me ;) 


	4. Malfoy’s Mischief

**Author's notes:** I want to thank my readers for leaving constructive criticism. They've helped me with ideas for this rewritten and revised version of my fic. Chapters 1-3 have been severely changed. Harry, Ron and Neville are no longer in Ancient Runes.  
  
**PLEASE NOTE** -- The chapters fit canon now and have been changed to account for that. Please either try to forget that they were ever in Runes, or read the chapters again ;)  
  
**Beta-reader appreciation:** Many thanks to the amazing Splatt. Again, this chapter must have been such a challenge to beta. Thank you for the patience. Thanks to Miss K for reading it over as well.  
  
---  
  
**Chapter 4 - Malfoy's Mischief  
**  
_The week before Easter holiday..._  
  
Isolde was pleased with the lessons so far, apart from some subtle, sneaky and nasty remarks from the third year Slytherins. Malfoy had been somewhat difficult, although not _too_ difficult, realizing that, as a teacher, Isolde had some power over him. She knew the type quite well. He seemed to be doing his best to spread stories about her stay at the St. Mungo's Hospital and getting students to doubt her sanity, although Isolde believed that it was mainly the Slytherins who would listen.  
  
As she didn't have many classes to teach, like the other teachers had, she spent most of her free time reading, experimenting and teaching Neville – anything to keep her mind occupied. She was very pleased with Neville's interest and progression. She wished that he had chosen Ancient Runes as a subject as he would have done very well in it. She often got the feeling that the boy was lonely and sought her out for lessons when it became too much for him. It was a shame that such a nice boy didn't have more friends – but that's how it always was...  
  
Transfiguration had been cancelled for the day and Isolde had invited Neville to sit in her lesson. He had given her a small smile when she invited him, but he couldn't hide the excitement in his eyes.  
  
The door to Isolde's office was half open. She was searching through her desk for additional work for those students who had finished their translation. She heard the students in the classroom talk about the next Quidditch match, which was weeks away, and exchange rather rude comments between houses. For a moment Isolde thought if it had been like that when she was a Hogwarts student, but of course it had been – there had probably always been rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin. She hadn't been involved much because she had been a Ravenclaw. Straining her ears, Isolde explicitly heard Malfoy seize the opportunity to amuse his friends...  
  
"Hey Longbottom," he said in a smug voice. "When Montage was at the Mungo's Looney Institution, did she play Hide-and-Seek with your parents?" Isolde narrowed her eyes as she heard Malfoy's friends laugh. "Did she make mud pies with them in the sandbox?" More students joined in on the laughing and Isolde peeped through a crack of the door and saw Malfoy playing with a knife with a mark on the handle. Squinting, she saw the letters _Neville_.  
  
Neville had told her that his grandmother had sent him a new knife after he had lost, presumably, this one. He'd had to borrow one in the meantime, but he had lost that one too, somewhere down in the Potions classroom.  
  
Neville turned red with anger. "You will NOT insult my par... Professor Montage like that Malfoy!" he shouted with a trembling voice and stood up, dropping his quill onto the floor.  
  
"Ooooh..." said Malfoy and earned himself more laughs.  
  
_That's it!_ Isolde thought angrily and opened the door. He was such a typical Malfoy; laughing at the expense of others, egging people on and yet hiding behind money and power. She was certain that Draco Malfoy would never get his hands dirty, just like his father never would. Just like his father, Draco Malfoy would have someone else do it, no matter what the consequences would be for that person...  
  
"No, Neville!" Granger shouted as he jumped in front of Neville. "He's not worth the trouble, Neville" Granger said and held him back, glaring at Malfoy.  
  
"What's the matter Granger?" said Malfoy maliciously, "Can't your boyfriend stand up for himself?"  
  
"That's quite enough," said Isolde in a raised voice as she strode up to her desk. She shot Malfoy a quick warning before sitting down. "Exactly how many of you have finished their translation?" she asked and tried to suppress her anger by clutching her fists under the desk.  
  
A few people raised their hands and Isolde sent the additional worksheets zooming through the air. "Here's additional work. It is optional, but I do recommend that you do it. After all, the exams are only two months away."  
  
"Why did he mention your parents Neville?" Isolde heard Granger whisper over her shoulder.  
  
"I...I don't know..." Neville answered in a low, wounded voice, looking ashamed. He glanced up and blushed when he met Isolde's eyes. She slowly looked over at Malfoy and saw that his face was rather tense with the effort of trying to stifle a laugh.  
  
"What is so funny Mr. Malfoy?" Isolde asked as she opened her book. _Come on, give me an excuse you arrogant Malfoy...  
_  
"I wasn't laughing - you must have heard it in your head. You do hear voices inside your head...don't you?" He sneered and put the knife on his table.  
  
How horribly alike his father he looked now, leaning back in his chair as if he owned the world. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean, Mr. Malfoy?" Isolde asked in a very steady voice as she put her wand on the desk, stood up and walked towards Malfoy, her eyes fixed on him.  
  
Malfoy seemed to be choosing his words carefully, looking intently at the ceiling. "My father told me all about your stay at Mungo's," he said in a proud voice, smirking at Isolde, "He also told me that Nev-"  
  
"Is that a fact?" Isolde interrupted. She had gathered that Neville didn't want others to know about his parents' condition. She glanced quickly at Neville and felt very bad for him – he most definitely hadn't expected this when he got invited to sit in this lesson, she was sure of that.  
  
"And how would your _father_ know about my stay at the hospital? Hm?" She was now standing directly in front of him, looking at him intently with a raised eyebrow.  
  
Malfoy looked at the dragon scale gloves he'd put on the table earlier before gleaming back at Isolde. "He has connections everywhere," he said defiantly, "He didn't recognize your name when I asked about you at first, thought he said it sounded familiar... But he sent me an owl as soon as he found out. He said that Dumbledore has gone mad hiring someone like you to teach at Hogwarts," he said loathingly, leaning over his desk and staring Isolde straight in the eye, as if trying to dare her into action.  
  
The boy was exactly like his father – even when he didn't have the power, he acted as if he had. Isolde narrowed her eyes slightly before turning to the class. "You last week's Rune Charts are in the shelves over there," she pointed towards the far end of the room. "Go and find them."  
  
The students stood up reluctantly, clearly wanting to hear the rest of the conversation, and made their way to get their charts. Neville didn't have a chart, but seemed to realize what Isolde wanted and left with the other students. Malfoy was still glaring at Isolde when she looked back at him, and when he was half way up from his seat she started talking in a low, calm voice, determined not to break the reinstated eye-contact.  
  
"I see... And _your father_ sits idly at home, waiting for you to ask him to dig up the past of the teachers of Hogwarts, does he?" Isolde said with a touch of mockery in her voice, but her eyes narrowed as she continued, "You keep stating what an important man he is, but when I look at him, all I see is a weak coward hiding behind a monetary mask and using other people to do his evil deeds. I shuddered when I found out he and his wife were expecting an heir. The world would be so much better if there were no such creatures as '_Malfoy's_'."  
  
She seemed to have touched a nerve as Malfoy's usually pale face went pink and his eyes gleamed with fury. To her satisfaction, he stood up, knocking over his chair, and shouted "You will NOT insult MY name! You will NOT insult MY FATHER!" his teeth were bared and his face contort. He seemed to have lost sense of the fact that the classroom was full of watchful students.  
  
"_ELIDO!_" he shouted and the knife on the table dashed towards Isolde and stabbed her in the arm. Isolde fell backwards by the force of the spell and struggled to stifle the cry of pain that rose within her. Malfoy sat back down in his chair, taking short breaths with a fearful look in his eye, despite the gloating smile on his face.  
  
The students, who hadn't been watching, stopped finding their charts immediately and there was a moment of silence until Su Li and Mandy Brocklehurst ran screaming hysterically towards the door. Some Slytherins moved forward to get a better look with very ambiguous expressions. Terry Boot and Neville ran quickly across the room and took positions in front of Isolde with their wands raised at Malfoy. Hermione seemed to be frozen, with eyes and mouth wide open.  
  
"Calm down class," Isolde said and glanced at her bleeding arm. She got up and pushed Boot and Neville back toward their seats before looking at Malfoy, while trying to hinder her jeer of triumph from taking over her.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy," she said in a calm voice. "I see you're very skilled with the Thrusting Spell. You will, however, go to your _Head of House's_ office and wait for him there. Mr. Goldstein, please go and _tell_ the _Potions Master_ to meet me in the hospital wing, Mr. Hopkins, please find Professor Lupin and ask him to meet me there as well and Miss Granger, can I trust you to supervise the lesson while I'm away?"  
  
"Yes, Professor," Hermione answered, now holding her mouth, still in shock after what had happened, but at the same time looking rather proud.  
  
The Ravenclaw, Anthony Goldstein, and the Hufflepuff, Wayne Hopkins, ran out of the classroom and Malfoy, who seemed to have realized that he was in a lot of trouble, took a last look at his table and strolled out. Isolde took a one last look at the remaining students and then left the classroom. _How will you handle this one, Lucius Malfoy?_  
  
---  
  
Isolde was sitting on a bed in the hospital wing, talking to Lupin, when Snape came rushing through the doors with his black robes billowing behind him.  
  
"Madam Pomfrey is away for the day, and so is Dumbledore," said Lupin while carefully examining the knife that was still stuck firmly in Isolde's arm. "I haven't been able to reach them, so I'm afraid we'll have to take care of this ourselves..."  
  
"Ah, Severus," Lupin said when he noticed Snape. "We might need your expertise."  
  
"What happened?" Snape demanded while frowning over the knife, his shoulder- length, greasy black hair was hanging like curtain around his pale face.  
  
"I was attacked," Isolde answered casually after looking away from him.  
  
"Attacked?" Snape repeated sharply. "By whom?"  
  
"By one of _your_ students," she answered with great deal of sarcasm and glanced up at him, "By Draco Malfoy. I'm told he's your favourite." She drew a sharp breath trough her teeth when Lupin touched the knife.  
  
"Since he used the Thrusting Spell...it won't be easy getting it out," Lupin said thoughtfully, examining the knife further.  
  
Snape sat down on the bed opposite Isolde. He kept looking from the knife, to the floor and at Isolde, as if he was contemplating the situation. "What brought on this attack?" he asked calmly after a while.  
  
"Exchange of words, that's all," she answered as she observed him curiously.  
  
"Can you elaborate, please? I sincerely doubt that Malfoy would attack a professor for no reason," he said, still very calm, but she noticed that he was clenching his fists.  
  
"Fine," she said softly, very much enjoying testing his temper. "He was being insolent. He told me that his _father_ had told him about my stay at St. Mungo's. I lost my head a little and made a comment about the _great man_, Lucius Malfoy."  
  
Snape seemed lost in his thoughts as he looked at the knife in disbelief and muttered, "He'll be expelled for this... Such misbehaviour is intolerable... We can't have students attacking the professors..."  
  
"No, we can't, now can we?" Isolde said and turned her head to watch Lupin find his way through the medical cabinet, to hide a smile. "But if he won't be expelled," she looked back at Snape with relish, "I want points taken from the Slytherin House and I want Malfoy put in detention."  
  
"Naturally..." he said, still absent-minded while glancing at Lupin, tracing his mouth with his finger. Isolde knew it was a habit of his, something he often did while contemplating situations. "...As a professor you have the right to do that."  
  
"No, you misunderstand me, _Severus_," she said with great difficulty and he looked at her swiftly with a raised eyebrow. "I want _you _to do decide what is appropriate," she continued while narrowing her eyes, "I want _you_ to decide how many points, and how long, and severe, the detention," she concluded, stating each word clearly and trying to hide the triumphant feeling rushing through her. This time, she was in the position to make demands.  
  
Snape seemed to be peering through her while his mouth tightened. He seemed to be pondering her words very carefully. "Very well," he said calmly, after long silence, and moved his eyes to the knife again.  
  
"Severus," said Lupin as he read the labels on colourful little potion bottles, "I've found a Wound-Cleaning Potion, but I can't find any Instant- Healing Potion for Cuts and Stabs..."  
  
"I'll go and find some," Snape said curtly before sweeping swiftly out of the hospital wing.  
  
After a moments silence Lupin walked over to Isolde and smiled. "That was very cunning of you, Izzy," he said and she heard him place a potion bottle on the side table.  
  
"What was?" Isolde asked absent-minded, still looking at the doors.  
  
"Making Severus decide the extent of the punishment," Lupin answered as he placed towels and bandages on the table. "You do realize that he's going to give Malfoy a really hard time after what he did to you..."  
  
"Oh, I don't know," she said, now glancing at Lupin, "I know he won't tolerate such behaviour from his House, but he seems to favour that..._boy _too much," she said with resentment.  
  
After a moment of silence, Lupin poured black liquid into a small bowl and put the bottle away. "You know, as a teacher you really shouldn't have provoked Draco," Lupin said while examining the knife one last time, "I would have thought you more mature than that."  
  
"_Please_, spare me the lecture," Isolde said, rolling her eyes upwards while slightly shaking her head, "I'm told there's a teacher in this school who continually provokes his students by insulting them and their parents."  
  
"Some of Severus's charming personality seems to have rubbed on you lately," Lupin said seriously, "I remember a very different girl from school. A very optimistic, loving and cheerful one," he said now in a caring, careful voice, as if trying to urge on a conversation.  
  
"Remus, please, I don't want to talk about the past. I was weak back then. I'm still learning to deal with the present... Much changed in the twelve years I missed." She looked at the bandages on the table beside her. "However, I am curious about one thing."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Did Sirius jinx my broom in our fifth year?" she asked quietly.  
  
"What made you think of that?" Lupin asked perplexed as he sat on her bed.  
  
When she didn't answer, Lupin smiled and said, "Yes, he did. He told us about it after Lily had taken you to the hospital wing." He paused and continued in a more serious tone, "He never meant to hurt you though. You must know that by now. He didn't know how powerful that jinx was and he was in shock for hours after he realized what would have happened if Severus hadn't been there."  
  
Isolde looked up at him and pushed her jaws together.  
  
Lupin chuckled, "He had planned to run onto the field, cast the counter curse and catch you when you'd fall. You were meant to land in his arm and your eyes were supposed to beam at him with admiration. When he saw how powerful the curse was he froze," he paused again and smiled, "Of course, he hated Severus even more because it had been him who rescued you, and it was Severus you were admiring." Isolde straightened up to protest these words. "Mind you," he said before she could, "that Accio Spell Severus cast was quite impressive - very advanced for a fifth year. The rest of us only learned to summon a living person in our seventh year, and not all succeeded at it."  
  
"I knew it was Sirius," Isolde sighed and frowned, "And it just goes to show the irresponsible person he is, doesn't it?"  
  
"Well, it shows the irresponsible person he _was_. We don't really know what he's like today." Lupin replied and Snape walked in as he said this. Safira sighed resignedly over Lupin's ability to be rational and objective – a trait that she certainly didn't possess.  
  
"Severus!" Lupin smiled at him and stood up, "We were just discussing old times."  
  
"How very touching," Snape said coolly as he stopped in front of Lupin, glancing at Isolde from the corner of his eye. "I have the potion."  
  
"Excellent. Now, please hold Isolde down while I make an attempt to remove the knife. Try to relax, Izzy, this is going hurt a lot."  
  
"Oh, no..." Isolde moaned, lying down on the bed, dreading the pain.  
  
Snape sat down on Isolde's bed and put his weight on her shoulder and forearm, but avoided looking at her. Isolde took shallow breaths and turned her head sideways, away from the knife. Lupin pulled out his wand, "_Accio!_" he called. Isolde winced and let out a small, cry of pain. She looked up at Snape who turned his head away from her, tightening his lips and closing his eyes.  
  
---  
  
While Snape had been away, attending to Isolde's wound, Malfoy had managed to reach his father. Lucius Malfoy was waiting in Snape's office when Snape came back from the hospital wing. They talked calmly about the seriousness of the matter. Lucius insisted that his son had intended to thrust the dragon scale gloves at Professor Montage and not the knife. There was really no way of proving that it hadn't been an accident. Snape admitted calmly that there was nothing that could be done until the headmaster would return. When that would be, he did not know for sure.  
  
Lucius Malfoy managed to gather witness statements, saying that Malfoy had been provoked into action, and that he had aimed for the gloves. By the time Dumbledore got back, there wasn't much he could do. It was Isolde's word against Malfoy's and half the class's word against the other. Since this was Malfoy's first serious offence and there was no way of proving that he hadn't aimed for the gloves, he was not expelled. He did however attack a teacher and was to receive severe punishment as a result. In all fairness, the punishment was to be decided by Professor Isolde Montage and the Head of Slytherin House, Severus Snape.  
  
After the hearing, which had taken place in the Ancient Runes classroom, since there were so many people involved, Lucius approached Isolde.  
  
"Isolde Montage, we meet again, at last," he said politely while smiling coolly at her.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy," she replied calmly, holding her head up high. She wasn't surprised that he managed to get his son out of this situation. If there was something Lucius Malfoy was good at, it was getting what he wanted.  
  
"Draco often mentions you," he said while tapping his staff lightly on the floor.  
  
Snape joined them but remained quiet.  
  
"Really?" she said in a cool voice, crossing her arms in front of her.  
  
There was a moment of silence where they simply looked at each other. Lucius looked her up and down and she knew that he was sizing her up for something. "I have a question for you Miss Montage." Isolde knew what he was going to ask and raised her eyebrow at him. "Do _you_ have _Rauthskinna_?" he asked quietly and looked at her intently.  
  
_Rauthskinna_... The evil book of spells – _her_ evil book of spells. "I don't know what you're talking about," Isolde answered with a cool smile, fully intending for him to see that she was lying – just for the pleasure of it. She saw Snape raise his eyebrow curiously from the corner of her eye.  
  
"Right," Lucius said after a while and changed his expression into his usual smug one. "I must apologize on Draco's behalf for causing you any...unpleasantness," he drawled, his grey eyes still looking into hers.  
  
"Well, thank you for that," she forced a stiff smile, feeling the intense moment a while ago fade away. "But I'm much more interested in redemption...if you know what I mean. I do believe people should pay for their...mischief," she said, her eyes glinting.  
  
"Quite," he said, wrinkling his forehead. "Well, you know the saying 'Boys will be boys'," he said smiling and turned to talk to Snape.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy, I really must say," Isolde said, in forced calm, but with such seriousness in her tone that Lucius turned back to her. "I do not like bullies - I never have. I regret to inform you that your son is one of the worst sorts." She paused and thought of how she could best say what she wanted to say on this matter. "_I_ have recently come to believe in the saying '_Like father, like son_'," she said, slightly narrowing her eyes and then she nodded her head gracefully as a farewell.  
  
"Absolutely charming," Lucius said, while she walked away.  
  
She felt Snape's eyes on her as she left and then heard him talk to his friend, Lucius Malfoy.  
  
---  
  
To be continued in chapter 5 - Oakvine and Dragon's Tear  
  
I apologize for any grammatical errors – English is not my first language. Also, this is my first fiction, so please bear with me ;) 


	5. Oakvine and Dragon’s Tear

**Beta-reader appreciation:** Many thanks to Birgit and Spartina for inspiring this chapter. Thanks to Miss K for beta-ing it :)  
  
---  
  
**Chapter 5 – Oakvine and Dragon's Tear**  
  
Snape had lectured Draco Malfoy for hours after Lucius Malfoy left. He expressed his disappointment and anger that a student from his house would do such a thing as attacking a teacher, provoked or not. It had been very tactless and he deserved, at best, to be expelled. He didn't listen to Malfoy's protests and took eighty points off his own house and gave Malfoy three weeks detention. "I hope," he concluded, "that will teach you a lesson."  
  
---  
  
Snape walked quietly along the wall of his office, listening intently to the rustle on the other side. He was sure he'd heard some commotion in his classroom, the chime of something being banged against a cauldron and a smash of a bottle. Luckily he hadn't gone to bed yet and was still fully clothed. It couldn't possibly be Peeves! He had scolded Peeves often enough and he finally seemed to understand that Snape was the Head of Slytherin House, and could therefore order the Bloody Baron make Peeves stay away from the dungeon. Of course, Snape had never actually _tried _to order the Bloody Baron to do anything, but the threat often kept Peeves off his back.  
  
He pushed his ear closer to the wall, his black hair falling into his eyes. No, it definitely wasn't Peeves. He could hear two people talking...male and female. It couldn't possibly be students! No student would be foolish enough to mess around in _this_ dungeon after hours! It had to be teachers...but what could they possibly be doing in _his _classroom?  
  
Very quietly, he opened the door, just enough to see Isolde sort out potions ingredients on a table and..._Lupin_...casting a spell to light fire under Snape's biggest cauldron. What on earth were they doing!  
  
"Shouldn't we ask Severus if we can use his equipment?" Lupin asked and filled the cauldron with water by magic.  
  
Isolde picked up a bash of dried nettles and pulled out about half of them. "_No_. Besides, it's not _his_ equipment, or _his_ classroom. It all belongs to Hogwarts and Dumbledore's given me permission to use what I need," she said as she roughly cut the nettles into smaller pieces.  
  
Lupin shook his head and poured what looked like tiny clover eggs, out of a small sack, and into a wooden bowl. "I'm sure that Dumbledore meant for you to ask Severus permission first, Izzy."  
  
"Oh, stop being so..._decent_," she said, shot him a look and poured green nymph powder into the cauldron, which was starting to boil. "Besides, _he_ won't mind."  
  
Lupin picked up the wooden bowl and started crushing the eggs. "Now, you don't know that -"  
  
"Fine, Remus, I don't care if he minds or not," she said harshly, and slammed down what had to be a bottle of sunflower essence, judging by the thickness and colour. Isolde sighed loudly and cast an apologetic look at Lupin. "Can we just do this, Remus?"  
  
Lupin smiled at her and put down the wooden bowl, and started measuring the contents. "Yes, of course. Did you have a bad day today?"  
  
Isolde threw the nettle pieces into the cauldron and stirred vigorously. "So much has changed...I went to the library today and I'm never going to catch up on my reading!" A small amount of the potion splashed onto the floor and Isolde softened her stirring immediately. "I've finally read all of the new Runes books – you wouldn't believe the sudden interest over the past 13 years – but I still have so many Potions, Herbal and Astrology books to read. And then there's Charms, Geology and Charm-Crafting..."  
  
She poured five jars of knotgrass into a big bowl, walked towards the ingredients shelves and started searching through them. "There's one book I tried to find in the library, but I don't think they have it. It's a Potions book, called _Oakvine and Dragon's Tear_, by Madam Greenwater..."  
  
Snape saw her move some bottles and jars, the long, dark locks of her hair moving softly as she reached for a small pouch of blueweed dust. She held the pouch in her hands and carefully poured some into her palm.  
  
"Izzy! You can't take things from his private stores," Lupin said in a hushed voice, and walked over to her, taking the pouch from her hand and moving to grab her other hand, presumably to empty it back into the pouch.  
  
Isolde nimbly moved away, hurried over to the cauldron and put the blueweed dust into it. "Severus won't mind..." she whispered absent-minded as she watched the blue fumes gush up into the air.  
  
They worked quietly for a while, measuring, timing, stirring and adding ingredients. Snape still stood behind the crack of his door and watched. After a while, Isolde walked back over to the shelves and started moving the bottles.  
  
"What are you doing now?" Lupin asked and walked over to her.  
  
"I need five bicorn horns..." she said and snapped her head at him when he removed her hand from the shelves.  
  
"_I_ have some bicorn horns in my private chambers. I'll go and get them. We can't use Severus's ingredients without asking him."  
  
Isolde crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "These are not _his_ ingredients, they're Hogwarts. Besides, he _won't mind_," she argued impatiently and glanced over at the cauldron.  
  
"His ingredients or not, knowing him, he probably keeps inventory of everything and it isn't fair to just take some. I'll go and get the bicorn horns," Lupin said with finality in his voice before letting go of her hand and walking out of the classroom.  
  
Isolde stood there for a moment, looking from the door to the shelves, and finally walked back to the cauldron to stir it. Snape looked at the self beside him, pulled out a book, opened the door of his office further and quietly walked in.  
  
She had her back turned to him and he was only a few inches away from her when she jumped and turned around at the same time. She stared into his face with a fearful, yet distant, look in her eye. It seemed as if she was looking _through_ him, at something behind him...or as if she was looking into a different reality.  
  
"Isolde?" Snape asked and put his hand on her shoulder while clutching the other around his book.  
  
Isolde jumped back slightly and finally seemed to realise who he was, and where she was. She scanned the room with her eyes and ended at Snape, looking him up and down, as if recently awaken from a dream and not fully conscious yet. She stepped back, glared at him, and went back to stirring the contents of the cauldron, thoroughly ignoring him.  
  
Snape walked around the cauldron and stopped by the table. "Nettles, crushed clover eggs, blueweed dust, sunflower essence, green nymph powder, knotgrass and...bicorn horns, was it? Are you making a Forgetfulness Potion?"  
  
Isolde didn't answer but reached into her pocket, drew out a small pouch and threw it onto the table.  
  
Snape picked it up, placed the book under his arm, opened the pouch and took out a small piece of charwood. "Claresco Potion?"  
  
Isolde shot him a cold look with her grey eyes, turned on her heel and walked to the ingredients shelves. "_May_ I borrow some bicorn horns until Remus gets back – and he _is_ coming back you know," she said icily, looking over her shoulder.  
  
"Of course," Snape said while he put the charwood back into the pouch and pulled on the thread to close it. "You may use whatever you need," he said and felt the corners of his mouth curl upwards at the whole situation.  
  
"Of course," Isolde muttered to herself and searched through the bottom shelf.  
  
Claresco Potion... It was a recently discovered potion that enhanced the senses – hearing, taste, sight and attention... It was, however, still on experimental stages and any possible side effects were unknown. He wondered why she would need that potion...although he could very well guess... The victims of Reality Comas often had trouble with keeping their reality. Some had woken up briefly and fallen asleep again. Snape knew that Isolde was a special case, but she clearly wasn't fully recovered.  
  
He walked up to her, reached for a sack in the top shelf and handed it to her. With narrowed eyes and pursed lips she accepted it and walked over to the table.  
  
"They're whole – I need powdered ones," she said as she took one horn out of the sack and examined it.  
  
"You crush it yourself," Snape answered with a curled lip and handed her a big bowl.  
  
Isolde put five horns into the bowl, picked up a pestle and feebly tried to crush the thick horns. She glanced at Snape, who stood with his arms crossed, hiding the fact that he was highly amused.  
  
"We have a spell for that now," he said and pulled out his wand. "_Oblido_," he muttered and showed her the wand movement very clearly. The horns crumbled down, in the bowl she was holding, and turned into fine powder.  
  
Isolde gazed down into the bowl for a moment and then turned it upside down over the cauldron. The colour of the potion turned light green and as Isolde stirred it, more vapour arose and obscured Snape's vision of her.  
  
"Is there a reason you're making such a big portion of it?" he asked calmly and glanced at the book he was holding. There was no answer from behind the fumes, but when it cleared he saw that Isolde was gazing down into the cauldron.  
  
"So that I don't have to make it as often..." she whispered absent-minded and stirred automatically. After a quiet moment, she stopped, widened her eyes and quickly let go of the stirring branch, as if she had burned herself, and slowly backed away from the cauldron, baring her hands in front of her. "Go away!" she whispered shakily, staring at the cauldron, again as if she was in her own universe.  
  
Snape swiftly moved around the cauldron and over to Isolde. He supported her unsteady body and she fell limp into his arms.  
  
"Isolde?" Snape whispered and shook her. "Isolde!" he said louder and shook her again. She didn't wake up, so he picked her up and laid her on the teacher's desk.  
  
At that moment, the door opened and closed behind him. "What did you do to her!?" Snape heard Lupin say in an angry voice.  
  
"I did nothing," Snape said in forced calm and glared at him.  
  
Lupin examined Isolde and shoved his bicorn horns at Snape. "These need to be crushed and added."  
  
"It's already been done," Snape said and pushed the horns back at Lupin. Neither would take them, so they fell down on Isolde's chest and then onto the floor.  
  
"Add the knotgrass then, it needs to be stirred for one minute," Lupin said and bent over Isolde.  
  
"I _know_ that!" Snape spat, swirled around and walked over to the cauldron. He emptied the big bowl of knotgrass into it and stirred more violently than usual, while he watched Lupin stroke Isolde's forehead with a cloth and whisper something to her.  
  
After precisely one minute, Snape put some of the potion into a vile and hurried over to the teacher's desk. Lupin held Isolde's head back while Snape poured down the bright yellow liquid.  
  
Nothing happened. Snape didn't know Lupin very well personally, but what he did know of the werewolf, was that he was usually calm and patient. He therefore glanced up at Lupin as Lupin gave an impatient sigh, while looking down at the unconscious woman.  
  
Suddenly, Isolde sat up and coughed heavily. She covered her mouth with one hand and pointed at a water jug with the other. This time, Lupin hurried to get water while Snape stood by her back, ready to catch her if she'd fall again. She gulped down the water and slowly let herself lie down on the desk, taking deep, calm breaths.  
  
"Thank you, Remus," she whispered and reached out a hand for him. Lupin carefully took it and smiled down at her.  
  
Snape thinned his lips as he walked back to the cauldron and started heaving the potion into the large jars that stood beside it.  
  
"You should thank Severus as well, Izzy," Snape heard Lupin whisper, but decided to ignore the two of them.  
  
He heard Isolde get off the desk and walk over to him, and when he looked over his shoulder he saw that Lupin stood firmly by her back to prevent her from falling. Isolde, however, hadn't come over to thank him. She had the coldest look in her eyes as she grabbed the jar Snape was holding and started heaving the potion into it.  
  
Irritated, Snape grabbed his _Oakvine and Dragon's Tear_ book from the table and shoved it at Lupin. "I'm loaning this book to _her_," he whispered icily and strode off, into his office, snapping the door shut behind him.  
  
---  
  
Professor?  
  
Isolde turned around. "Yes, Miss Granger?" She looked at the girl before glancing at Draco Malfoy, who was sniffling heavily at his desk. He had his head leaned backwards and his nose was sticking up into the air. She suspected that this was some attempt of his to get some attention...or the beginning of some snide remark.  
  
Granger cleared her throat. "We've been learning a lot of history of the runes and I was wondering...when are we going to learn how to actually use them?"  
  
Isolde turned her attention back to Granger and looked at her in surprise. "We _have_ spent time on how they're used in magic..." She was interrupted by Malfoy's slight moan and she noticed that he put his forefinger under his nose.  
  
"Yes, but I mean, when are we going to have some practical lessons?"  
  
Isolde was about to respond when Malfoy beat her to it. "I don't believe they work. I've never seen them being used in magic. I've only heard about rune-magic." He looked at Isolde and she saw thick, red liquid run down from his nose and out between his fingers. "May I be excused?" he continued and pointed at his nose with his free hand.  
  
"No, you may not, Mr. Malfoy," Isolde answered and walked up to his desk. "But allow me to demonstrate."  
  
She reached forward and took some of the blood on her finger, and drew a symbol on his forehead while chanting the proper words three times. The symbol stayed clear on Malfoy's pale forehead for a moment, but then disappeared under his skin when she finished the chant.  
  
Malfoy had sat still with a look of curiosity on his face while she demonstrated on him, but now he frowned and removed his blood covered fingers, looking at them from under his brow, a lock of his blond hair falling into his eye. The bleeding had stopped.  
  
Isolde conjured up a small piece of white cloth and handed to him. "That is a practical example of how runes are used. This particular one is useful when there are no magical herbs available." She took one last look at Malfoy before walking up to the blackboard and facing the class. "It is, however, imperative that you learn the correct history, theory and symbols before attempting the actual magic. One incorrect line can result in great horror."  
  
A student from the front raised his hand. "That wasn't one of the Futhark runes..."  
  
"Quite right Mr Boot. That was a rune found in the book _Graskinna_," Isolde said and looked into Malfoy's grey eyes. "Does anyone know about the three books, _Rauthskinna_ and the two _Graskinna_?" Malfoy returned her stare with a smirk behind the cloth.  
  
"Yes, Miss Granger?" said Isolde to the girl who shot her hand up into the air.  
  
Granger rearranged herself in the seat and put her quill down. "They were written in Latin around the 17th century and owned by wizards in the North. The two _Graskinna_ are kept in a museum, but the third, _Rauthskinna_, was buried with the wizard, Bishop Gottskalk the Evil, and hasn't been found," she concluded and looked very content with herself.  
  
"That's correct. 5 points to Gryffindor," Isolde said, rather impressed. She hadn't expected any of the students to know about the books - except for Malfoy, perhaps. She was about to continue with her teaching when she noticed another hand up in the air. "Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"  
  
"My father told me that _Rauthskinna_ was, in fact, found many years ago."  
  
"And just what do you _know_ about _Rauthskinna_, Mr. Malfoy?" Isolde asked and walked back down to his desk, placing her hands on it and glaring into his eyes.  
  
Malfoy sat back in his seat and removed the cloth from under his nose, glaring back at her with relish. His pink nose was very contrast to the rest of his pale face. "I _know_ that Gottskalk the Evil was the greatest wizard of the Nordic countries and he studied at the Black School both in Iceland and France. He wrote the book in human blood and bound it in human flesh. _Rauthskinna_, unlike the other two books, contains _only_ dark magic, written in runes.  
  
Isolde pushed herself away from the desk and took a few steps backwards, opening her mouth and closing it again. Malfoy was smirking at her in a subtle way, occasionally looking down at the bloody cloth. She knew that in all fairness she should award him House points.  
  
"The other two books use dark magic to heal, gain control and power, but they're nothing compared to _Rauthskinna_, so...5 points to _Slytherin_," Isolde said coldly and walked up to her desk, looked down at the open book and felt a sudden rush of pain shoot across the inside of her head. She'd have to end the lesson earlier today, not that the students would mind...  
  
"Professor?"  
  
"Yes, Miss Brocklehurst?" Isolde said and hid her pain from the children looking at her.  
  
The Ravenclaw, Mandy Brocklehurst, sat in the back, gnawing on a quill, with blond locks falling down from her bun. "If the third book, _Rauthskinna_, has been retrieved, then where is it?"  
  
Isolde looked at Malfoy who sneered slightly as he talked. "The book was _stolen_ after it was retrieved, and is now believed to be in the possession of a witch, here in Britain."  
  
_Stolen indeed_, Isolde thought, but turned to Brocklehurst. "The book is safely kept from those who want to use the dark knowledge it contains. Now, read chapter 20 in _Ancient Runes of the North II_ for the next lesson. Class dismissed."  
  
She watched the students push around to leave and then she snapped her book shut, grabbed it and walked into her office.  
  
_Stolen indeed!  
_  
She dropped the book on her desk, strode into her private chambers and threw herself onto the bed. With a furious sigh she picked up the book from her bedside table and looked at it. _Oakvine and Dragon's Tear_, by Madam Greenwater... She had nearly finished it by now. It was well kept, no scrapes, not torn or crumbled pages – how very characteristic of Snape... The golden, cursive script on the cover slowly moved and the tail of the 'g' stretched out and tickled the oakvine that decorated the page. The woman on the cover, an old witch holding a bottle of dragon tears, shushed at the oakvine and narrowed her eyes at the 'g'.  
  
Isolde opened the last chapter and lost herself in the reading. She had taken her time with this book, dreading the time she'd have to return it. But that time would inevitably come...  
  
---  
  
To be continued in chapter 6 – Full Moon  
  
I apologize for any grammatical errors – English is not my first language. Also, this is my first fiction, so please bear with me ;) 


	6. Full Moon

**Author's notes:** This chapter has been a dagger in my side and is my least favourite of all the chapters. I've changed it so many times because I've never been happy with it – and I'm still not, but I'm gonna post it (finally) and just be done with it. Oh, and thanks Sami for kicking my bum to start posting again ;)

**Beta-reader appreciation:** I would like to thank my wonderful and brilliant beta-reader, Splatt, for being so patient and basically teaching me how to write properly.---

**---**

**Chapter 6 - Full Moon**

Placing a lock of her hair behind her ear, Isolde dipped her quill in her ink bottle and marked the exam paper in front of her. It was already dark outside and the fireplace was lit, the flames softly licking the walls with warm light. After a long evening of hard work, she decided to take a break and curled up in her windowsill, with a cup of warm tea.

She had received information earlier that day that Hagrid had lost his case, trying to defend the hippogriff that attacked Malfoy at the beginning of the year. Then she had seen Cornelius Fudge in the Great Hall, talking to Dumbledore, no doubt before they headed over to Hagrid's cabin. She thought the hippogriff would be dead by now…

Just then, she heard a loud voice singing, disturbing her thoughts. Peering out of the window, she managed to work out Hagrid's gigantic form in the distance, making his way towards the castle – he appeared to be drunk. She sighed and couldn't help feeling sorry for him. She felt that he must be devastated, loosing one of his creatures like that. She'd always liked him, and could well remember him from her days at Hogwarts.

She glanced back at her desk and frowned at the sight of the pile of papers yet to be marked. Like always with Ancient Runes exams, the questions were in essay forms, so the answers were usually very long. She closed her eyes after taking a sip of tea let her mind wander.

She was glad that she had been getting reacquainted with her old friend Remus, and it had been refreshing to have someone to talk to. Of all the people she knew from school, he seemed to be the only one who had changed for the better - but then, he had never really been bad. Actually, he had always been quite nice to her, even before they became friends. She'd come to respect him and his opinions a long time ago, and with the thought of what he'd said to her in the hospital wing, about her personality resembling Snape's, she shuddered and pulled her knees closer to her chest. She would never want to sink down to his level, although she had attacked Malfoy in a way he would attack a student. She had simply made a mistake – one that she wouldn't do again, she hoped.

There was no denying the tension between Isolde and young Malfoy after the incident, but Isolde was determined to prove Lupin wrong. She was determined to prove that she was _not, _in any way, like Severus Snape. Hence, she tried her best to push aside what had happened, mainly by ignoring the boy. This was the only way she knew how. But deep down, she felt rather guilty for provoking the boy like that…even though he was a Malfoy…

She looked back out the window and saw Snape striding across the ground, his black cloak billowing behind him. What was _he_ doing out there?

She closed her eyes and sighed, leaning the back of her head against the wall. _She could see him in her mind as her broom was about to collide with the ground; His black eyes staring fixedly at her, focused, with concentration in every part of his face. His black, wet hair was slowly waving in the breeze. His body posture graceful with the determination of the powerful wizard he was, his wand pointing steadily at her. His mouth commanding her to fly into his arms... At that particular moment, time seemed to have stopped. She couldn't take her eyes of him. She could hear her heart beating and her lungs breathing, but everything else had stopped. A moment frozen in time…_

"Oh stop it, Isolde!" she said loudly to shake herself from the image. She was now irritated that she'd dragged up the past by asking Lupin about that incident with the broom. She had worked very hard on forgetting about everything in her past. It had worked well until she started working at Hogwarts…too many memories…painful memories…

Blinking her eyes to get rid of a burning feeling in her throat, she picked up an old edition of a folded _Daily Prophet_.

Werewolf attack

She scanned the article, but she had read it before. The werewolf bit its son and daughter. The boy was nine years old and the girl only five. This wasn't the only article like this. Last summer a werewolf had stormed into the camping site, bit six people and killed four – a child included.

Well, Isolde was like Snape when it came to werewolves – that much she knew. It was common knowledge that werewolves were one of the most horrible creatures that existed in the Wizarding World. Snape had often talked about the dangers of werewolves in the past, and Isolde was glad that he did. He made sure she knew their weaknesses and how to kill them. _Kill them before they get to you. Don't stop to think. If you see one – kill it,_ he would tell her.

Of course Isolde had heard the arguments that werewolves were human when they weren't transformed, but she'd never fully believed that. If those so called people really were humans, then why didn't they have themselves locked up during full moon? Knowing what could happen, wasn't it inhumane to run around loose? The cowards were too scared to give themselves in – scared of other people knowing that they were abnormal, monsters. They weren't normal people, they should all be locked up.

She looked out the window again and saw that Snape had disappeared into the darkness. Isolde put down her cup, got up and continued marking exam papers, until she moved on to the third years papers. She looked over the perfectly straight and neat handwriting of Hermione Granger, and her mind automatically wandered again.

She had often seen Granger with Harry. _Harry_... She was curious about him, but she hadn't given herself time, nor worked up the courage to talk to him yet. He certainly looked like his father, but looking into his eyes was like looking into Lily's. He didn't at all seem like James, though - he seemed more like Lily, only a lot quieter. What was Harry's opinion on werewolves? Lily was rather scared of them in school, but after Hogwarts, she defended them, much to Isolde's surprise. James, Peter and especially Sirius always defended werewolves, and Isolde would often get into long arguments with him on werewolf rights. Remus never talked much about it. Perhaps he shared Isolde's opinions, but was too shy to say so in front of his friends?

She read Hermione's first answer and then slammed the paper back on her desk.

How _could_ Snape do it to her? She had trusted him blindly! Why was she even wasting time thinking about it? She'd worked hard to push him out of her mind. The only way to keep her mind empty was by immersing herself in work, and that's exactly what she'd been doing. But it hadn't been easy, seeing him every day, being reminded every day…

She stood up irritably, walked towards the window again and looked out to calm herself. There was the Whomping Willow... _Why_ had Dumbledore planted a tree like that on the grounds? She knew that something happened between Sirius and his friends and Snape, but Snape had never told her about it. Remus always changed the subject when she had asked about it, and Sirius developed a sudden muteness. But something did indeed happen around that tree that had been planted just before she had first come to Hogwarts. She would probably never find out what, but Snape had been furious, insisting that Sirius had tried to kill him.

She gazed for a moment over the grounds until… "What the...?" she squinted to see through the darkness and saw something emerge from the willow; Lupin and an injured looking boy, with read hair, and something rag-like between them and... Her cup fell from her hand and shattered into small pieces when it hit the floor. Behind them, a ghost-like man held his wand up and in front of it was Snape. The sight triggered other memories – all too many of such memories.

"Oh, no you don't!" she said angrily and then quickly ran out of her office, and headed towards the stairs. She ran down the first flight of steps before turning around a corner and smashing into a suit of armour that wasn't supposed to be standing on the middle of the floor. The armour fell on the ground with enough noise, to wake up everyone who would be sleeping on the floors above and below. The helmet rolled towards the next flight of steps and before Isolde could prevent it, it rolled down the staircase, making a loud ringing noise with every step it hit.

Isolde closed her eyes and covered her ears. What on earth had that armour been doing there? When she finally opened her eyes at the fading echo, she saw Peeves come flying from the bottommost landing, with an enormous smile on his face. He laughed wholeheartedly while zooming around in circles.

"Peeves, I don't have time for this!" Isolde called when she knew that she was about to be detained by him. She waited for the staircase to connect with the landing she stood on, and stepped on it. Peeves sat himself on the rail with the biggest, ugliest grin.

"Mad, Mental Montage is making noise – oh, Filchy Filch isn't going to like this, oh no he isn't," he said and laughed.

Isolde tried to ignore him and stepped onto the next landing and then onto the next staircase.

"Was Maddy Montage hiding with _him_ in her room again?" he continued and picked up an antique vase from the nearest table. He flew into the air and held it above his head.

Isolde, already angry, pulled out her wand and shouted, "If you throw that vase, Peeves, I swear I will banish you! I know how to do it, and you know it!"

It was true, she did have the knowledge - the power was hidden in a very ancient rune, which was used to get rid of unwelcome unearthly beings. She had gotten rid of Peeves once before by using a related rune, but that one hadn't been as…permanent.

Peeves didn't look startled at all. He flew around in the air, holding the vase above his head and chanting very rude lyrics about Isolde and the young man Peeves had once seen in her private chamber, years ago, shortly after she had finished Hogwarts and found refuge under Dumbledore's protection. The lyrics weren't improving her temper, but by the time she reached the landing she needed, Peeves was gone. Isolde quickened her pace.

"Bloody Peeves," she muttered, "Nothing happened that night! Nothing!"

It was dark outside, but she knew where to go. She was still a very long distance away, still cursing Peeves, when she stopped at the sight of a very peculiar event: Lupin was screaming painfully in the moonlight, thrusting his chest forwards, his fingers stretched out and his head thrown back. She knew that there were more people there, but she couldn't tear her eyes away. Her friend's face started changing, his hair grew longer and his ears changed into long and pointed ones.

"RUN!" she heard someone shout, but she paid no attention to the person.

Lupin's robes ripped away from his body as his chest grew too big, and his human flesh had been replaced with dark, hairy body of a werewolf. Lupin gave a final howl of pain before gnarling beastly around him.

Isolde stood frozen in her place, she was scared and wanted to run away, but she knew she couldn't leave. Hundreds of thoughts raced through her mind, but she was certain that what she was seeing wasn't real. Another thing that kept her from running was the memory of Snape in his vulnerable state that she'd seen him in earlier.

The thought of Snape made her take a few steps forwards, still staring transfixed at the werewolf, but she stopped abruptly when a big, black dog suddenly jumped up and seized the werewolf by its neck.

Isolde heard a girl's voice screaming, a series of bangs, and the casting of a spell, but to Isolde, those were background noises from somewhere far away. She still couldn't believe what she'd just seen…

The werewolf fled into the forest and the black dog ran in another direction – away from the remaining people and towards the lake.

Isolde couldn't move. She had the horrible sensation of being in a different reality, and the worst thing was that she couldn't be sure if she was or not. As if looking through glass and walking on air, she slowly moved forwards and saw the two teenagers, Harry and Hermione Granger, covering over Ronald Wealsey, who was lying motionless on the ground. Behind them was Snape, floating in midair, his head hanging down his chest and his cloak dusty and torn under the moonlight that shone directly down on him.

She walked in the shadow of the trees, slowly and carefully. If this was an alternative reality, she'd have to be very careful. The surrealism of the different reality she'd lived in for twelve years scared her and she never knew what to expect. She had learned to live with it, eventually, but she would go mad if she'd get stuck in it again. Had she taken the Claresco Potion that day?

Somewhere in the distance, a low and painful yelp from a dog echoed in the darkness. Harry looked up and muttered, "Sirius." With that, he broke into a run, and Granger followed.

Sirius? Full moon, werewolf, three teenagers roaming the grounds, Lupin gone and Snape hanging in midair – no, Remus changing into a werewolf…all very much like a surreal reality… Surely Remus would have told her if he was a werewolf! But of course he wasn't – he couldn't be. Remus was the most human person he knew. Remus wasn't a monster!

Isolde crept further while she watched the hems of Granger's ropes disappear between the trees. She placed her hand on a large bush that had separated her from the others, and quickly pulled her hand towards her when she felt a sharp thorn pierce her index finger. It bled - it hurt! It was all real…

"Harry! _Harry_!" she shouted in the direction he had disappeared, but of course the boy was long gone. She shot a quick glance at Ron, who twitched a bit, but lay still with his leg wrapped up in bandages.

She felt her calm and cautious manner vanish when she ran over to Snape. If Sirius Black really had been here, he'd played a nasty trick on Snape – again! And Lupin had been there, so he had to be involved – again…

"_Exonerocorpus!_" she shouted, aiming her wand at Snape. He fell to the ground with a thump, still unconscious. She bent over him, biting her lip; blood was seeping from the cut on his head and running down his pale face, into his eyes. Isolde used her sleeve to carefully wipe the trail of blood away before glancing over her shoulder to make sure that the werewolf was nowhere to be seen.

She got to her feet, and with a frustrated sigh, she picked up four wands scattered over the grounds, cast Ron a concerned look as he was still not moving, and then focused again on Snape, who, to her relief, seemed to be regaining his consciousness.

"Severus..." she breathed as she helped him up, shoved his wand in his hand and pocketed the other three.

"What...?" It seemed to take him a while to realize where he was; his eyes sweeping the surroundings and stopping abruptly on Ron. He jerked his head back to Isolde. "Where's Black?" he asked in a hurried voice, his black eyes filled with sudden fury.

"I…I don't know, I didn't see him," she answered, trying to push away the returning feeling of a different reality. "There was a…a werewolf and it ran into the forest…and Harry and Granger ran in there too... Severus, what is going on?" she whispered confused and looked up at Snape with a frown.

Snape didn't seem to be listening as he peered at the forest, and suddenly spoke sharply, "I'm going after them."

He began to stride away when Isolde grabbed a hold of his sleeve and pulled it tightly. "I'm going with you," she said just as determinedly and glanced at the forest.

"No," he replied quickly and removed her hand from his sleeve.

Isolde raised both her eyebrows and pointed at the forest, "But -"

"Get back inside the castle, Isolde!" he demanded, straightening up and looking taller, and darker than usual. He glanced up at the moon. "There's a werewolf roaming the grounds."

"Severus," she said, taken aback by his words. Who was he to tell her she couldn't go! "You could get hurt if you go alone."

He turned his face away from the moonlight and looked down at her. A veil of shadow hit his face, but she could clearly see his raised eyebrow and smirk. "And you're going to protect me?"

"You know I would try," Isolde replied offended. His tendency for untimely mockery hadn't changed through the years.

He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about me. Now, go inside, find Dumbledore and tell him what's happened."

"No, I'll come with you," she persisted, walking passed him and towards the forest.

This time it was he who grabbed her arm and pulled her rather roughly back. "Out of the question, Isolde!" he said harshly, his eyebrows knitted angrily as he peered down at her.

She knew from experience that this was a battle of wills that she couldn't win. True, she wasn't very eager to walk into a forest that contained a werewolf, one of the most dangerous creatures in the Wizarding World, even though it was Remus, but she really believed that two were better than one. But then she knew that Snape was perfectly capable of protecting himself and preferred working alone. _She_ would hardly be of any help – she'd probably only be in his way…

"Fine then," she said quietly, "I'll take Ron and then I'll come back -"

"No, Isolde!" Snape snapped, his face slightly contort as he peered at her down his nose. "Do as I say! Go back in there, right now! I'll take care of Weasley," he ended in a whisper.

Do as I say… Isolde glared at him with thinned lips.

"Fine," she hissed before swirling around, and almost running into the castle in anger.

She didn't find Dumbledore in his office. Nor did she find him in the staffroom, or the Great Hall. She finally ran into Professor McGonagall, outside the library, who informed her that Dumbledore was talking to Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, in the small room beside the Great Hall.

Irritated for not looking there before, Isolde hurried to the Hall and walked in on Fudge insisting on increasing the number of dementors in the grounds. As if knowing something was amiss, Dumbledore immediately looked away from Fudge and focused on Isolde.

Isolde explained what she had seen as quickly as she could, although it all sounded very strange and surreal as she spoke. The two men probably thought she was mad as she stood there, out of breath, talking about a werewolf and a big black dog. She didn't say who the werewolf was, because of Fudge. What would happen to Remus if Fudge knew? As soon as she mentioned the three students on the grounds, Dumbledore stood up and walked towards her.

"…and Severus went after them," she finished, looking from Dumbledore to Fudge's disbelieving expression. "Oh, and Severus asked where Sirius Black was…as if he thought Sirius was on the premises…" Isolde added questioningly.

"Sirius Black!" Fudge suddenly called with great interest as he jumped up from his seat with excitement. "How did he get past the dementors?"

"Severus was unconscious only a minute before, he was probably just raving-" Isolde tried, but Fudge had already pushed her out of the way and disappeared through the door. Of course Harry had also mentioned Sirius's name… Could he really be in the grounds?

"Since when was Remus a werewolf…?" Isolde asked in a mixture of disbelief, grief and disgust as she struggled with keeping up with Dumbledore, who was rushing through the Great Hall and into the Entrance Hall. "I mean, a werewolf! A – a monster!"

"Now, Isolde, you don't mean that. You know Remus. This didn't' happen to him recently. It happened before you met him. You know that when he's not transformed, he's just as human as you and I," Dumbledore said in his usual calm and wise voice. But he did look a bit pale. So, he'd known about this before tonight? She had never even suspected…

Fudge was waiting for them by the door, probably not wanting to meet a werewolf by himself. As he rolled back and forth on the balls of his feet in anticipation, he muttered to himself, "We will catch Black. This time we'll catch him!"

They were joined by a curious Professor Flitwick, as Dumbledore opened the door with a movement of his wand, and they stepped outside into the fresh air. The moon was half hidden behind thin clouds, and an owl hooted in the distance.

Isolde only just noticed this as she looked at the man walking towards them, his wand aloft and his black cloak billowing in the soft wind. He looked very tired, yet very accomplished, levitating four stretchers in front of him.

Dumbledore hurried to him and looked down at the people on the stretchers, each passed out; Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger and…what looked like the ghost of the handsome man, Sirius Black once was… Wearing tattered clothes, with long matted hair and sunken face, he appeared to be dead. Harry and Granger also looked very pale, and very still. Ronald Weasley was showing some sign of life, as he moaned and turned his flaming red head, although he didn't wake up.

Fudge was beside himself with excitement and immediately used his wand to relieve Snape of Sirius's stretcher. "Good job, Snape. Good job…"

Snape set the other stretchers down in front of Dumbledore and Isolde noticed the corner of his lip twitch as Fudge complimented him.

"You can keep him in my office," Professor Flitwick, who had been standing in the doorway with McGonagall, said to Fudge, wide eyed, as he craned his neck to get a better look at Sirius. "I'll put charms on the door so he won't escape. I'll take you there."

Dumbledore nodded once as both Fudge and Professor Flitwick looked at him for approval, and off they went. Dumbledore watched them leave, looking intently at Sirius's stretcher with a heavy frown. Isolde couldn't for the life of her imagine what he was thinking.

"Oh," said Professor Flitwick and turned his head back. "Shall I inform Remus Lupin of this…attack?"

"I'll inform him myself," Dumbledore said quickly.

Isolde forced her attention back to the remaining people, and kneeled by Harry's stretcher at once. He looked so pale…

"He'll be all right," Dumbledore said reassuringly to Isolde and knelt at the other side of the stretcher. "Dementors?"

"Yes, Headmaster," Snape answered coolly behind Isolde. She thought she detected a hint of disgust in his tone, understandably. Dementors were the most horrid creatures in the Wizarding World… Werewolves came second…

"Let's take them to the hospital wing," Dumbledore said as he stood up and pushed his glasses further up his nose.

"All right," Isolde replied slowly and swished her wand at Granger's stretcher. She could already hear the muttering voice of Madam Pomfrey from the Entrance Hall, through the half open door. Before entering, she glanced back and caught Snape peering at her with thinned lips and a frown, as if willing her to understand something. She knew this all too well. She knew that every time she didn't understand something, he'd look at her like that. But this time she knew very well what it was he wanted her to know. Remus Lupin.

---

It was the day after the escape of Sirius Black when Isolde knocked on Lupin's office door with hesitation and a big knot in her stomach. She had gone straight to her private chambers the night before, after bringing Granger up to the hospital wing, but this morning Snape had come to see her. He had told her what he remembered from the night before. He had told her that Remus had been helping Sirius all along…

"Come in," said a soft voice.

She straightened up, walked in and closed the door behind her.

"Izzy," Lupin said and smiled, looking pale and tired as he pulled out a chair for her. She'd known him for a long time, and was used to seeing him this weak. Some form of allergy he'd told her once… The knot in her stomach tightened.

"Hello Remus," she said quietly as she glanced at his trunk while slowly sitting down.

Neither of them said anything for a while until Lupin broke the silence. "You probably have questions..."

"Are you packing already?" she said as she glanced at him.

Lupin smiled warmly, "Not exactly the question I was expecting," he said as he sat down in his chair. "I've resigned," he explained, "I realise that it's not safe for me to be here after all; I couldn't risk what happened yesterday to happen again."

What happened yesterday…

"Where is Sirius?" she forced herself to say, forming a fist in her lap. Snape had told her that Lupin had defended Sirius…

Lupin saw it and looked at a lunar calendar on his wall. "I don't know. I don't know how he escaped." He opened a drawer and emptied it on his desk.

"He should be in Azkaban by now…" said Isolde while watching an empty potion bottle roll towards the edge.

Lupin caught the bottle and asked, "Izzy, why do you resent him so much?" He continued before she could answer, "I know that he was a bit mean towards _some_ of the students, and he jinxed your broom, and he –"

"Killed Lily?" she added shortly, regretting her tone. She knew that Lupin saw right through her. He always did. He'd always known what she was feeling. Now she knew why… Werewolf instincts…

"He didn't kill her, Izzy," he said in a patient voice. "Severus spoke to you, did he? You need to know that I did not know this until last night, but Sirius never followed Lord Voldemort. I believed that Sirius was guilty until last night." He took a deep breath. "It was Peter who gave away James and Lily's position. Did you see Peter yesterday?" he said and there was a mixture of hope and desperation in his eyes.

"Peter?" she said slowly and shook her head.

"Yes, Peter, our friend from school, Peter Pettigrew. He was chained to me and Ron Weasley last night. I know you witnessed some of this, did you see Peter?"

She now thought of the short, mousey haired boy who had always stood in the shadow of his three friends. She had known him briefly before they went to Hogwarts; his parents were her parents' neighbours when they moved to England a month before she started school. He had shyly knocked on her door one day and asked if she wanted to play with him. He'd always seemed so innocently nice…but then she remembered his anticipation when James and Sirius were about to jinx...

"I saw _something_, but I didn't recognize it as Peter Pettigrew," she said shortly.

"Yes, I guessed as much," he sighed, "You as a witness would have made such a difference. The Ministry doesn't believe that Peter's alive, so they're still hunting Sirius for the crime he never committed."

Was he telling the truth? She didn't think he'd lie about this... Remus would also want to avenge James, and he didn't exactly have Sirius chained up yesterday... _Why_ hadn't she noticed Peter if he was there?

"Well," she forced herself to smile, to try to change the serious atmosphere in the room. She was deliberately avoiding the discussion of his lycanthropy. Right now he was her friend, Remus Lupin. She'd deal with him being a werewolf later… She had a lot to think about until then, even though she had a lot of questions now.

"I'm not sure what I remember from last night. It all seemed so...surreal... Besides, the testimony of Mad Montage would hardly mean a lot to the Ministry," she said mockingly, but then paused before adding, "Is…Sirius really innocent?"

"Yes, I firmly believe that he is," he said as he stood up and started packing again, "You can safely take my word for it."

"Severus is convinced Sirius is guilty." Isolde answered absentminded, lost in her own thoughts.

"If you'd rather believe Severus…" she heard Remus say.

"No," she said determinedly, and rather loudly. "No, I'd rather not."

Lupin picked up an old piece of parchment, which, in a glimpse, appeared to be some sort of map, and put it in his pocket. "Now that you believe me, do you still feel the same way about Sirius?" he looked at her with a comical, teasing look on his face.

"You mean, do I still think of him as an irresponsible, self-absorbed, arrogant bully? Yes, of course I do." She didn't feel that sounded all that convincing – but even though he hadn't betrayed Lily and James, she was certain that was he still the person he was at Hogwarts.

Lupin chuckled, "Well, I guess he deserves some of that. You do know that the Hogsmeade incident really was an accident... It took him days to recover from the shock."

"Well, like I said, irresponsible." She didn't even want to think about what had happened at Hogsmeade!

Lupin looked amused. "He really did like you, if not more than that," he said while placing a robe neatly into his trunk, "He didn't act too desperate about you, but I could tell that he really liked you – he cared for you deeply."

"He didn't like me, Remus," she said, "He just wanted me because he couldn't have me." She gave him an End-Of-Discussion look.

"Well," he laughed, "I won't try to convince you further."

Isolde smiled and stood up to leave, but turned around in the doorway. "J-Just one thing, Remus," she said shakily and swallowed. "Why did you never tell me?"

Remus sighed and walked up to her, placing his hand on the shelf next to the door. "I didn't want to scare you away, Izzy. I…You've been so afraid of werewolves, ever since I've known you. You've always had such a strong mind on it, and I made sure that none of the others never told you. Why Severus didn't tell you, I don't know."

"When did Severus find out?"

"A long time ago," he answered with a sad smile.

Isolde wanted to know more, but didn't ask again and forced herself to think of something else to say, to break the uncomfortable silence.

The clock on the wall ticked and finally Lupin looked at it, cleared his throat and said, "Izzy, can we talk about this when there's more time? This summer, perhaps?"

Relieved, Isolde responded quickly, "Oh, no I can't this summer, I'll be very busy."

"I'll write you a letter then?" he said and raised his eyebrow with a smile.

"Fine," Isolde said with a quick half a smile, "All right."

Lupin's smile broadened and Isolde slightly tried to avoid his hug, but uncomfortably returned it and gave him a quick pat on his back.

In the Entrance Hall on the way back, she bumped into Harry who was running towards the stairs.

"Harry?"

"Gotta...Lupin..." he panted and ran up the stairs.

---

Snape had been in a terrible mood all morning. He was still furious that Black had escaped and that the Headmaster had dared tell the Minister that Lupin had been _saving_ the kids. It was very clear that he was in league with Black. He had been warning the Headmaster all along. And Potter! Always Potter! Why couldn't that boy keep himself out of trouble? He was sure Potter had everything to do with Black's escape and that know-it-all Granger had helped him - he was so sure of it. The Minister had promised him the Order of Merlin and Potter... Snape's face was contorted with anger at the thought of Harry. He walked out of his private chambers and into his office.

He had the worst sort of headache and touched the bandages on his head. Madam Pomfrey hadn't been able to treat his injury in the _normal_ way; since it was a non-magical wound it would have to heal by itself. He had been in the hospital wing early this morning and Potter and his friends had been whispering about the events that took place the memorable night before, but he had heard every word of it. He really couldn't understand why she had been so insistent on confronting the werewolf by his side; perhaps she was repaying an old debt? He had met her in the corridor leading from the hospital wing this morning and her attitude towards him was as cold as ever. She had probably been on the grounds yesterday to save the precious Potter and his puppets. He had lingered in the corridor to hear, to his surprise, Isolde back up his story about Pettigrew not being there. He had expected her to side with Potter and Lupin. Ridiculous idea, Pettigrew being alive!

---

Isolde didn't stay for the end-of-term feast. She was wearing her winter coat at the Entrance Hall and standing next to her luggage when Professor Flitwick and Dumbledore walked over to her.

"I didn't know it was cold outside," Professor Flitwick said in his small, high voice, smiling curiously.

"It is quite warm, Filius," said Dumbledore, glancing at Isolde over his spectacles. "But it is very cold where Isolde is going."

"Oh-ho, I see," Professor Flitwick giggled, "And what a mystery that is."

"Are you ready?" Dumbledore asked Isolde while smiling at Professor Flitwick.

"Yes" she answered thoughtfully and strengthened her grip on her bag of Claresco Potions.

---

To be continued in chapter 2 – Poor Defence

**Rest of this fic will be posted at bewitchedmind dot net – the archives will be launched very soon.**

I apologize for any grammatical errors – English is not my first language. Also, this is my first fiction, so please bear with me.


	7. Dumbledore's Project

**Author's notes: **Erm…I know I said I wasn't going to continue the story here, but here you go ;)

Now begins my favourite part of the story, part 2. The other chapters were written before I got Splatt to beta for me, but these chapters were written after, where I had learned to write better and I have hardly needed to change anything in these chapters. You'll also see more character development from now on along with more flowing chapters.

**Beta-reader appreciation: **Many thanks to the amazing Splatt.

**---**

**Frozen in Time -Part II**

**Chapter 7 - Dumbledore's Project**

_September 1st 1994 The Hogwarts start-of-term feast …_

"I wonder where Isolde is," little Professor Flitwick said to Professor Sprout as he looked at the empty chair beside him.

"I'm wondering that myself," Professor Sprout said, also glancing at the chair.

Severus Snape, who was sitting a seat away from Professor Sprout, looked around the staff table. Professor Moody, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, had just plunged down in his chair and was eating feverishly after his late arrival. His grizzled dark grey hair lay in clumps around his face and his big, round magical eye was glaring at Snape while his normal eye was fixed at the food. Feeling quite uncomfortable under Moody's stare Snape shifted his eyes over to Dumbledore.

Professor Dumbledore had seemed agitated before the feast as he had constantly been looking at the door, checking his watch and pacing the floors. It wasn't in Dumbledore's nature to reveal his worries like this. Snape had heard Professor Flitwick ask Dumbledore where Isolde was, but he hadn't received an answer. Dumbledore was now finishing announcing the Triwizard Tournament to the students, who were listening excitedly and some of them were nose-to-nose, undoubtedly trying to figure out a way to get past the age limit that was set on the submissions to the tournament. Dumbledore had just told them to go to bed when...

BAM. The doors to the Great Hall burst open. Startled, once again everyone turned their heads toward the door. Isolde was standing there in her winter coat, short of breath, trying to take deep breaths with her mouth slightly open. Her dark hair was messy and locks of it were surrounding her face. She stepped inside the hall, glanced at the students and then walked up to the staff table after closing the doors behind her. Dumbledore, who had been walking back to his seat, had stopped and was looking at her with questioning eyes. She nodded, as if to confirm something when she stopped in front of him.

"Is she going to do this every year?" Madam Hooch asked and rested her elbows on the table.

"She certainly knows how to make an entrance," Professor Flitwick said in a low voice while craning his neck to get a better look.

"I must speak with you," Isolde said quietly to Dumbledore, looking steadily into his eyes.

The doors suddenly opened again. Isolde jumped, turned around swiftly and pointed her wand at the newcomer. She stared at him alerted with bared teeth, but lowered her wand slowly when she saw a second year boy trembling with fright in the doorway. The boy fainted and fell on the ground with a loud thump. Still trying to take controlled breaths, she turned to face Dumbledore again.

"Someone is following you?" Dumbledore asked quietly so the students couldn't hear. "Come, let's go to my office. Minerva, would you handle things from here?"

"Yes, Albus," she answered distractedly with her eyes wide open.

---

"Cockroach Cluster," said Snape as he stood outside Dumbledore's office. After the stone gargoyle came to life and jumped aside, Snape stepped onto the staircase, which moved slowly upwards.

He had waited an hour after Dumbledore and Isolde left the Great Hall before deciding to go and try to find out what was going on.

Before he could knock he heard Dumbledore call through the door, "Come in, Severus."

Snape entered the office and saw Dumbledore sitting behind his desk and Isolde in a chair, reading a scroll. "Headmaster," he said as a greeting.

Isolde seemed to have calmed down after her grand entrance earlier. She remained quiet while shooting him a hard glance.

"Please, sit down," Dumbledore said to him and pointed at the empty chair next to Isolde.

Snape walked up to the desk and sat down, not at all surprised that Dumbledore had known he had been outside the door – he was used to it by now.

"After Christmas last year I told you that I was conducting some research and that I would need your help," said Dumbledore as he picked up some scrolls from the floor and put them on his desk. "Well, the time has come to start working on it."

"I'm afraid I do not understand…" said Snape, looking from the scrolls to Isolde whose expression was quite empty.

"Then I will explain," said Dumbledore and smiled. "These scrolls are written in ancient runes and were thought to be lost forever until recently. I do no know what exactly they say or how they travelled all the way to Siberia. I even do not know their exact history, as it has changed over the centuries into an almost forgotten rumour, but I do know that they describe the ancient and long-lost way of Telepathy," Dumbledore paused and picked up one of the scrolls, "Isolde has been doing a lot of research for me on what happened to the scrolls and discovered over a year ago that they were being guarded in a hidden temple in northern Siberia," he put down the scroll and smiled at Isolde, "She made contact with the guardians just before the beginning of last school year and we have been meeting with them and discussing the possibility of us possessing the scrolls. It was a long process, gaining their trust, but just after Christmas last year, Isolde finally managed to convince them." Dumbledore had finished talking and leaned slightly forward with interest as if waiting for Snape to comment.

"Telepathy?" asked Snape with a raised eyebrow, slightly disgruntled, "As in mind reading?"

"No," said Dumbledore patiently, "As in sending and receiving messages through the mind between two or more people."

"I see," said Snape calmly, "And how can I be of use in this…research?"

"I need you and Isolde to work on the translation," Dumbledore answered lightly, "She is very skilled with runes, but there are many scrolls and it would take too long for one person to translate. I think that you could be of great help since you're a very skilled Occlumens and Legilimens, and…" he paused with twinkling eyes, "…I know that the two of you used to work well together - I'm hoping that_that_hasn't changed."

He gathered from the fact that Isolde didn't look at all surprised, that she'd already known that Dumbledore had planned for them to work together. She sat motionless in her seat, looking at the scroll she was holding before looking back at Dumbledore as if waiting for him to continue.

"When do you want the translation completed?" Snape asked coolly.

"As soon as possible," Dumbledore replied putting the tips of his fingers together and leaning back in his chair. "Of course I realize that you are both busy with teaching and I realize that I'm asking you to spend a lot of your personal time on this…"

"That won't be a problem on my behalf," said Snape softly and watched curiously to see if Isolde would react.

"Good," said Dumbledore cheerfully before standing up and gathering all the scrolls which were scattered around the desk. "To answer you question," he said, "it would be nice if the translation could be completed before the end of the school year."

Isolde stood up and started helping him pick up the scrolls. She shot Snape a quick glance, but Snape couldn't quite interpret the feeling behind it.

"Headmaster," Snape started reluctantly, "Does this have anything to do with Professor_Montage_being late this evening?"

Dumbledore didn't answer, but glanced encouraging at Isolde who was now putting on her coat. Isolde seemed to realize that he wanted her to answer and simply said, "No," while pulling her hair from under her coat.

Snape exhaled impatiently and made his way towards the door.

"One last thing," Dumbledore said suddenly before Snape and Isolde left, "I prefer to keep this a secret as I do not wish the wrong kind of people knowing about this. I ask that you work in secrecy and I trust that you can find a place?"

Snape caught Isolde's eyes and turned back to Dumbledore, "Yes, we know of a place," he said curtly.

---

They didn't exchange words as they worked their way down through the castle, but Snape couldn't help glancing at her every once in a while, noticing that she too was occasionally glancing at him. She turned away from him on the fourth floor and headed towards her office.

"Wait!" he said sharply, "When are we going to start?"

Isolde turned around and shrugged, "Soon," she answered shortly before turning on her heel and heading down the corridor.

_Well that was rather unnecessary_, Snape thought as he started walking down the stairs and through the empty corridors towards his office. He was getting quite weary of her constantly turning cold on him. But then again, he couldn't shake off the knowledge that he deserved it…

_He was sitting in Potions class in his sixth year at Hogwarts and was concentrating on his Pepperup Potion when he felt someone watching him. As he looked up he saw a pair of grey eyes staring at him from the front row. It was that annoying Ravenclaw girl again! Ever since the last two weeks of their fifth year she'd been smiling at him and greeting him every time they met in the corridors. What did she think? That he'd saved her out of the kindness of his heart? It had been so worth it seeing the stupid look on Black's face. Vengeance is very sweet._

"_All right," Professor Lamdon, Slughorn's temporary replacement, said in his grouchy voice, barely looking up from his book, "Time's up. Leave your cauldrons on the shelves…your potions need to simmer for two days…"_

_He put away his school things, picked up his bag and hurried out of the classroom thinking about the Fire-Demon report he was supposed to hand in that day. Not paying attention to his surroundings, he was unaware of his least favourite group of people until he reached the top of the stairs; James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, all leaning against the wall, grinning._

"_Hey Snivellus," said the overly arrogant Sirius Black in his usual wry voice, "How was old Lamdon this morning?"_

"_Snape!" he heard someone call and turned around with narrowed eyes._

"_Snape," said the Ravenclaw girl, panting, "I'm so glad I caught you, I-"_

"_Isolde," said Sirius with a stupid smile on his face, "you're not really going to talk to this git are you?"_

"_Stuff it Sirius!" she said angrily, narrowing her eyes at him, pursing up her lips disapprovingly and turning her head away._

"_Aw, that hurts," he said grinning with his hand over his heart._

_Ignoring Sirius and his laughing friends she turned to Snape, "I was just thinking," she said in a sweeter voice, curling the end of her long hair, "you're the best in Defence class -"_

"_BEST?" Sirius shouted with a surprised expression, "James and I could take him on any day!"_

"_You mean you and James together?" she snapped back with a raised eyebrow only to be answered by Sirius's smug look._

"_Anyway," she continued, turning away from Sirius, "I need help with some of the defences and I was wondering if you could help me…you know, teach me…" she said, tilting her head slightly and holding her breath for an answer._

_Was she mocking him? She really wanted HIM to help her? Was this a trick set up by Sirius Black? _

"_No, I will not help you," he answered coldly and turned to walk away._

"_No, wait," she called, "Please, I really need help with this…"_

_He glanced at her over his shoulder. Nice touch with the injured deer look!_

"_Ask you boyfriend to help you," he sneered, pointed at Sirius and hurried off to avoid further interruptions from that irritating girl._

Without realizing it, he was back in his office, staring at his poetry book on the desk. "Fool," he admonished himself bitterly. It wasn't like him to leave such things lying around in his office – not when there was the risk that Potter boy might break in again…

Snape shuddered. It brought back too many memories of how close he'd come to being found out by Potter's father and his thugs years ago…

He picked the book up and it fell open in his hand, almost as if by its own choice, on a well-used page. Sitting down, Snape read the familiar poem to himself, his lips moving silently over the words.

_Roaring Storm_

Though my ears are sore, I embrace your roar.

Despite my fear, you're ever so near.

Ever so graceful, ever so cold.

I hear you seek through gaps and holes.

Your steps are weak, your speed of foals.

Ever so fearful, ever so old.

_- SJV_

He softly turned the pages of his book and without realizing it he continued his previous thoughts. This was the second time Isolde had asked him to help her…the first time was after they'd shared the carriage towards the Hogwarts Express. At both times he had thought that she'd approached him out of pity… With a sigh he leaned back in his chair and let his mind wander…

_He sat down in the innermost part of the library behind shelves and stacks of books. He had just learned about Swamp Engulfers in Care of Magical Creatures class and wanted to read more about them. They were quite interesting –_

_He looked up from his book at the whispered sound of his name._

"_I really don't get why Snape is so mean to you," he heard Lily Evan's voice say, "It's not like he's got a lot of friends."_

_He really hated that know-it-all Evans, always trying to prove herself in class by jumping up and down in her seat to answer a question! Slughorn adored her but fortunately Lamdon had more sense… It was really quite intolerable._

"_I'm sure he was just uncomfortable having Sirius standing over him like that," Isolde defended him in a low voice, "I'm sure if I ask him again he'll help me…"_

"_Why do you even want him to help you?" Lily said with disgust, "He called me Mudblood!"_

"_Oh, after the Defence OWL last term?" asked Isolde, "I'm sure he was just embarrassed…Sirius was lucky I wasn't there!"_

"_Yeah, well, it's the last time I'll ever stand up for Snape – I only did it because he rescued you…and I felt sorry for him." _

_He stood up quietly and shifted some books in the shelf until he managed to peek through. He could see the two girls sitting by a desk with their books and quills at hand._

"_But what is this fascination with him anyway?" Lily asked, smiling._

"_I'm not fascinated," Isolde said while softly running the feather tip of her quill over her cheek, gazing at the chandelier, "I just find him… interesting."_

"_Interesting?" Lily giggled quietly, "You've been walking on clouds ever since the end of our fifth year – And don't try to deny it!" she said, trying to stifle a laugh._

"_Yeah, but it was so brilliant, the way he did it I mean," Isolde said while laying her head on the open book in front of her with a sigh, "He really is something…"_

_Lily let out a loud laugh, "Oh, you're such a hopeless dreamer!"_

"_Keep your voices down!" hissed a woman's voice out of nowhere._

"_Sorry, Madam Pince," whispered Lily before turning back to Isolde, who had quickly raised her head from the book._

_Normally he would have thanked Madam Pince for shutting them up since libraries really weren't the place for talking, but he was curious about what they were saying…_

"_James asked me out again," Lily whispered," but I told him that I might consider considering it if he'd bury the hatchet with Snape," she started giggling silently again, "which is never going to happen."_

"_Oh, why don't you just go out with him? He's liked you for ages!" Isolde said and started curling a lock of her hair with her fingers._

"_Why don't I?" said Lily and leaned over to Isolde, staring into her eyes with a smile on her face, "Why don't YOU go out with Sirius?" _

"_Are you mad?" Isolde said, throwing her lock into the air and looking slightly shocked, yet amused, "Become one of his many girls? Besides, you know I don't like the way he treats Severus."_

_Severus? She was calling him by his first name now?_

"_Ah, but you just don't want to go out with him because you fancy Snape," Lily said tauntingly._

"_I told you, I don't fancy him!" said Isolde tensely before leaning back in her chair and running the end of her quill over her cheek again, "I'm just a little curious about him… you know, what he's like and all that." _

_Lily rolled her eyes and shook her head._

"_DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO KEEP YOUR VOICES DOWN?" Madam Pince screamed. "GET OUT OF THE LIBRARY! OUT!"_

_The girls hurriedly picked up their bags, quills and books and ran out._

_Snape sat back down and stared at his book. Perhaps he could use this to his advantage… Black certainly wouldn't like it…_

---

To be continued in chapter 8 – Attempted Teamwork

I apologize for any grammatical errors – English is not my first language. Also, this is my first fiction, so please bear with me ;)


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